What are the most useful Runtime tools for exercising and debugging code in the wild?

Question

Hi,

After a product is released, we have the need to execute or debug code that has been deployed to the live environment. I tend to use PowerShell to create objects and invoke public functions rather than writing small test applications in C# to perform integration testing on the deployment platform.

For debugging, when the source code and an IDE is not available, I find that WinDBG is one of the most invaluable tools for debugging web services and web applications. The ability to view first-chance exceptions and gather a stack trace where the application is misbehaving is great to have. However, accessing some of the more advanced features can involve entering some very complex commands. Making use of a good logging framework can make tracking down the cause of exceptions easier, but this may come with a performance overhead.

What tools do you find useful for integration testing and debugging applications in the wild, where platform variations may make your components behave differently than expected?

Suggestions of efficient logging frameworks, debuggers, monitors and languages for this kind of thing would be great.

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi,

we're using Performance Counters, logging with log4net and/or Logger.net. If we can we also use WinDbg or remote debugging but these cases are quite rare as not all our applications are hosted on our environments and we commonly don't have access to our client's machines (but log files can be sent to us).

For integration testing (in a self-controlled environment) the new Visual Studio testing features might come in handy, but I haven't had a chance to work with them yet.