Debugging and the debug APK

As a textbook or reference book reader, debugging is "the process of identifying and fixing of problem that stopped the product to work as intended."

"debugging" - as how I see

As a practicing tester, I see, "debugging is a empirical activity which involves investigation, reasoning and analysis on the buggy/risky/enhancement incident to learn the details about it, so that a fix solution will be found for it." 

There are different techniques in debugging and the person doing the debugging may carry out multiple activities in parallel.  Discussing the different techniques, approaches and activities in debugging is not with scope of this writing. Hence I'm not sharing much about it, in this post.

I learn, "having the debugging attribute in the product is testability strengthening factor."

"no!" to debug APK while USB Debugging is enabled?

In my testing practice, I test for mobile apps as well. I test Android, iOS and WP apps.  In the context of this blog post writing, I will stick on to Android app and Android APK.

It is very common for a programmer to have "USB Debugging" option enabled on her/his Android device by turning on 'Developer' permission. So the programmer will be able to install the Android app while it is being developed. Further the programmer will use this installed app for testing and debugging, typically.

When tester enable 'Developer' permission and choose "USB Debugging" option to assist in debugging the problems in app, won't that help in developing app? Won't it reduce the time and efforts of the programmer in analyzing the problem when the tester write the detailed Test Investigation report from the debugging? To a tester, who aspire to be skilled mobile app tester, it is very usual to have this setup on her/his test or personal device as the programmer will have.

If so, then have you ever said "no!" to share the debug app to your tester who has same interest in the product as the programmer and product owner?  Why? I will leave it to you for introspection.

"few" myths around sharing the debug APK

There are myths which gives fear in mind when asked for the debug APK. I have tired to demystify few of them here and help to be confident in sharing the debug APK with your tester on mutual understanding and agreement in common interest.

"types" of debugging in developing Android APK

I understand, the IDE used to program the Android APK will use the Java debug by default. That means, the code compiled in debug mode will generate the APK which works with tools based out of Java to see the internals of app.

Along with this, if the IDE supports different configurations of debugging, it can be used. I have not used apart from 'Java' type so far. Hence I cannot share anything further on this.

By the way, when I say "developing", I mean programming along with testing.


"differences" between the debug APK and non-debug APK

When said non-debug APK, the assumption is that it will be a release APK. The debug APK is for the testing purpose. In practice, the release APK will have debug attribute to false. Beside this, the certificates used to sign the APK will be different when it is debug APK and the release APK. These certificates will be bound to date for expiry.

Both debug and non-debug APKs can be ZIP aligned and signed.  Making sure the log writing code is available in the app is essential to print system messages, debug messages and stack trace.

next Post

In the next blog post, I will share the benefits what the programmer and interested stakeholder can get by sharing the debug APK with the tester.