Stop Committing Debug-Only Variables: Use Your Debugger Instead

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:00 -0500

I have seen this kind of function more times than I can count:

function calculateTotal(values: readonly number[]): number {
 const result = values.reduce(
 (total, value) => total + value,
 0,
 );

 return result;
}

Sometimes result names a useful concept. Sometimes it creates a clean place for validation. And sometimes it exists for one reason: someone wanted a breakpoint immediately before the return.

In that last case, result is debugger residue. The investigation ended, but its scaffolding quietly became production structure.

Debugging on Coderrob

Stop Committing Debug-Only Variables: Use Your Debugger Instead