Neovim Debugging: A Dev's Edge in the AI Age
In a world where AI-generated code is slowly becoming the norm, mastering debugging isn't just a nice-to-have skill—it's survival.
As John Carmack, the legendary game engine developer, wisely pointed out:
"A debugger is how you get a view into a system that's too complicated to understand.
I mean, anybody that thinks 'just read the code and think about it'—that's an insane statement."
-
Lex Fridman Podcast
What's the problem?
Most developers encounter bugs and immediately resort to the primitive approach of adding print statements, recompiling, and rerunning their code.
They sprinkle print() statements throughout their codebase, hoping to catch a glimpse of what's happening. This approach is painfully inefficient and often leads nowhere.
The standard solution—littering your code with log statements—creates more problems than it solves.
It clutters your codebase, forces unnecessary recompilation cycles, and provides only limited visibility into what's actually happening. Even for those who aren't compiling, trying to gain visibility into malfunctioning code (or worse - a large module) can quickly become a game of a cat endlessly chasing a mouse (or a bug..?).
And with increasingly complex AI-generated code becoming commonplace, this approach simply won't cut it anymore.
Personally, just based on the last few days, all those "vibe" coders, who are actually making money from their new vibe coded games and SaaS products, will start paying big bucks to senior helping them understand behaviours and bugs.
Here's where Neovim's debugging capabilities shine
Using the Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP), (and specifically nvim-dap combined with nvim-dap-ui) you can transform your Neovim experience into a powerful debugging environment that rivals any modern IDE.
The setup is straightforward:
- Install the necessary plugins (nvim-dap, nvim-dap-ui) through your package manager (lazy.nvim makes this particularly easy with
dap.core extras)
- Set up language-specific adapters (Go, Python, TypeScript, Java, etc.)
- Configure your key mappings for a seamless workflow (or let LazyVim decide for you)
Once configured, your debugging workflow becomes dramatically more efficient.
Setting breakpoints is as simple as
- Local variables and scopes
- Current breakpoints list
- Threads and stack frames
- Interactive watch expressions
But the real power comes with conditional breakpoints (i equals 7," dramatically reducing debugging time.
You can step into functions with
A game changer for multi threading
The thread visualization is particularly valuable when debugging concurrent code.
You can track multiple threads simultaneously, seeing exactly what each one is doing at any given moment—a capability that's absolutely essential when dealing with complex systems.
Printing your way through multi threaded code is nearly impossible and can get extremely frustrating.
Going deeper
For those looking to supercharge their debugging, consider pairing Neovim's DAP capabilities with an AI tool like Augment (there's a generous free tier if you're a solo dev).
Unlike general-purpose AI assistants, Augment is designed specifically to understand your entire codebase, making it an ideal debugging companion for complex systems. Its Vim-first approach means it integrates seamlessly with your Neovim workflow.
I was able to ask where certain bits are in a huge code base, as well as detecting potential bugs in a matter of milliseconds.
Another exiting (and open source!) option is Codetracer, which lets you execute your code, while recording it in the back, then allowing for a replay through code.
This is how you tackle those hard-to-reproduce persistent bugs.
The real power
Lastly, in my opinion, the most powerful feature of all in a debugger is the ability to modify code mid-debug session.
Change a variable's value, and continue execution to see if your fix works—all without restarting the debugging process.
"Sometimes you could fix things even before you did one compile cycle. You'd say, 'Well, I'm just going to change this right here,' and yep, that did the job."
- John Carmack
In a world increasingly dominated by AI-generated code, and the amount of garbage code only seems to pile up, the ability to debug efficiently isn't just about productivity—it's about maintaining control over systems that grow more complex, and fewer engineers know how to handle them, by the day.
With Neovim's debugging tools, you'll be well-equipped to face these challenges head-on!
Thank you for reading.
Feel free to reply directly with any question or feedback.
Have a great weekend!
Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:
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