Resumen de Speaking Stata:: How to debug, part I

Nicholas Jacobs

• Debugging code can be time-consuming, frustrating, and even dismaying, but it is essential for almost any Stata project that is at all original or challenging. In this column, I provide advice on debugging and a variety of examples, structured around a series of simple tips. Read the help. Look at the code. Note or even create error messages. Debug actively. Simplify the problem first, complicate later. Attend to detail. Try tothink like Stata. Try to think like the programmer. Find a Stata friend. Ask the Stata community.