To debug is to find and fix errors or problems, especially in computer programs.
It combines “de-,” meaning “remove,” with “bug,” which came to mean a technical fault or glitch in machinery. The use in computing became popular in the mid-20th century.
There’s a famous story of engineers literally removing a moth from a computer and calling it “debugging.” Whether or not that’s the first use, it perfectly captures the idea: hunting down tiny creatures—problems—hiding in your code.
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