Lightning talk - Logging

A 5 minute lightning talk I gave to my colleagues at a&m impact internetdiensten.

2. Logging Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars.
3. But why should I? You want to know... • What happened? • When did it happen? • Where did it happen? (and where didn't it?) • Which steps were taken? • And sometimes, actual input and output
4. Okay, but how do I do this then? • Inspiration: log4j (java) ◦ PHP: log4php ◦ Python: logging (In standard library!) ◦ Ruby: log4r, logging include('Logger.php'); $logger = Logger::getLogger("main"); $logger->info("This is an informational message."); $logger->warn("I'm not feeling so good..."); INFO - This is an informational message. WARN - I'm not feeling so good...
5. Tips, tricks & pitfalls • Use the various levels effectively ◦ (WARN == INFO) == False • Debugging should be OFF on production • Be careful with big objects or method calls ◦ $logger->debug("Doing something with object " . $this->nastyLongObjectLookup()); // *yawn* App hangs
6. Tips, tricks & pitfalls (cont) • Be clear and verbose ◦ $logger->info("User logged in"); // Uhh.. who did? $logger->info("User " . $user->id . " logged in"); ◦ $logger->warn("Got unexpected responsecode from webservice"); // Which response code? $logger->warn("Got unexpected responsecode " . $response->code . " from websevice"); $logger->debug("Response data was: " . $response- >data"); // Real programmers don't need debuggers ;)
7. Tips, tricks & pitfalls (cont) • grep, sed, awk, sort, uniq • Critical/Exception? ◦ Yes, log it, but more importantly.... Sentry!!
8. Now, go forth and log! Image credits Logging truck and bush taxi accident: Wikipedia uploader Amcaja The Sentry: Marvel Comics