Writing code and creating an app is not an easy thing to do. With a lot of competition, there is a lot of pressure on developers and programmers to create a solid product. In addition to acquiring users, you also need to make sure your app is working as expected.
Unfortunately, this is sometimes easier said than done. There are many different errors that can occur within the code of your application.Some of these errors are caught, some are missed, but all can potentially cause you headaches. Without correctly handling errors, your app will not be able to be as optimized or successful as it could be.
With that in mind, this article is going to look at a few different tips for handling errors within your app, and why handling them is so important.
Testing Yourself Isn’t Enough
Before you release any sort of application, you need to be sure to test it. Testing an application is an incredibly important part of the development process. Testing will reduce the chance of errors, will ensure the code is correct and make sure the app is stable enough to release. During testing, you should test everything in the way you expect others to use the app.
However, simply testing your application yourself isn’t enough. You have your own inherent biases, and the way you intend the app to be used might not be the only way they use it. There is a very low chance that you will actually be able to test each and every way that someone can use your app. So if someone uses the app in a way you didn’t test for, the app might experience errors.
As a result, you should also have others test your app. This can be done in a few different ways. One of the most common ways is to actually hire some testers online from a third party service. These are quite affordable and are generally quite knowledgeable on the topic and can give you solid feedback. If that isn’t a preference, you can consider launching a beta or alpha version of the app. In this case, the users will actually act as the testers and will let you know of any issues or errors they come across.
Despite Your Best Efforts, Errors Can Be Hidden
No matter what sort of software or application you use or create, there is a good it has created logs. Logs are automatically produced and time-stamped events that are relevant to the system, code or app. However, finding specific errors in your logs can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. Your app has likely produced thousands of logs and sifting through them manually will prove difficult.
If all of your logs aren’t being strictly monitored, some errors could actually remain hidden, and can be very difficult for someone to locate. Thankfully, there are tools that help you find, fix and track hidden errors within your code. These tools can identify errors before they affect your customer and notifies you of them immediately. So instead of manually searching for errors, find hidden errors in your code w/ Retrace error monitoring. This could not only save you a ton of time and work, but could save you from an error ruining your app’s reputation.
Know the Difference Between Errors and Exceptions
Despite the fact that both the word error and the word exception have largely been used interchangeably, there are some differences. Even those experienced in the space often use the words interchangeably. However, knowing the difference between what is an error and what is an exception is important.
An error is when an issue occurs in code that cannot be recovered from. You will usually need an actual programmer to check in and change the code. An exception, on the other hand, can be caught in a way so that the application can rectify the issue itself.
Basically, an error is something that has occurred that wasn’t expected, where an exception is when something that has gone wrong was somewhat expected and the code has been designed to handle.
In conclusion, hopefully this blog post has been able to help you learn a bit more about error handling. If done wrong, error handling can ruin an application or leave you prone to attacks. But if done correctly, good error handling can ensure your app continues to be optimized and work as expected.