Bentil Shadrack

Posted on Aug 8, 2022 • Edited on Nov 13, 2022

5 JavaScript Console Methods That will Improve your Debugging Skills🚀

#javascript #webdev #debugging #programming

The console is a JavaScript object that grants developers access to a browsers debugging console.

Shortcuts to open the console in browsers

Ctrl + Shift + I (windows)
Command + Option + K (Mac)

In this post, I've curated 5 console methods that you can use to improve your debugging skills

✨ console.error()

This method works just like the console.log() method.
It Useful in testing of code. By default the error message will be highlighted with red color

// console.error() method
console.log("This is an error");

Output

✨ console.dir() method

This is another method that is also almost like console.log() except it shows the content in JSON format

// console.dir() method
console.log(document.body);

Output showing difference between console.log() and console.dir()

✨ console.table() method

This method is used to generate a table inside a console. The input must be an array or an object which will be shown as a table.
It is really a handy method to use if you are fetching data from an API. You can visually see how data is received
Output

✨ console.group() & console.groupEnd()

group() and groupEnd() methods of the console object allows us to group contents in a separate block and indented.
➩ .group() is used to begin a new group, it accepts a label as well as the group name.
by default, the group is opened on the console. use .groupCollapsed to close the group be default

➩ .groupEnd() closes off the current group, It takes same label as the .group()

Output

✨ console.time() & console.timeEnd()

These methods are used to determine the amount of time used for a block of code to execute.
Just like the .group() method, this also takes a label which must be same.
Output

✨🚀 console.clear()

.....this method as the name is, its used to clear the console.😅

You can support me to keep writing more for you😊❤

You know other methods of the console object which is really useful in debugging, tell us in the comment section👇😊

Follow me for more dev tips🚀

Top comments (21)

Hayes Dombroski • Aug 8 '22 • Edited

You can also apply css styling to certain messages in the console, if you need something to stand out. Use console.log("%cTEXT", "color: purple; font-size: 20px")

Comment deleted

Hayes Dombroski • Aug 12 '22

yep! I mistyped!

Alex Benfaremo • Aug 10 '22

I've made a small npm package to better handle "tagged and colored" console.logs: npmjs.com/package/@pelv/frontlog

Nothing special but it has some fancy feature (hide log on prod build).
This post make me realise i should add the table and dir consoles, even if they doesn't really need styling.

Bentil Shadrack • Aug 8 '22 • Edited

Yes! that's also a great way of identifying the log messages at different run points in your code for easy debugging.

Thank you!🚀

mahan-js • Aug 10 '22

Sye

Das PeTe • Aug 9 '22

Please stop using the console.* Methods for debugging... There is a reason why breakpoints and the debugger was invented ..

Travis Vadnais • Aug 9 '22

Another alternative is to just write perfect code in the first place. Much easier that way.

decker • Aug 12 '22

Did you ever try to debug a vue/react/... appliation, it simply does not work in most cases to place a breakpoint or get to a specific line, due to the compiling and optimizing. So console.log is the last resort.

Das PeTe • Aug 12 '22

Yes, but you are right, it takes some setup to get the debugger working on a Vue or react app... But it's possible.

Tosin Seyi • Aug 10 '22

True

Ammar Tinwala • Aug 11 '22

Thanks for this article. There is one thing I wish you would have added.
console.log({}). This way of debugging helps when we need to name the output's that we are printing on the console.

e.g: console.log({testData: 'abc'});

We can directly use variables in the console.log in the above way that will give us the name of the variable along with the output.

Bentil Shadrack • Aug 12 '22

Thank you for the addition.
Really welcomed🙌

Akash Chauhan • Oct 6 '22

The importance of gaming in Javascript is vast. It helps with hand-eye coordination, problem solving, and logic skills. Gaming can also relieve stress, improve moods, and promote social interaction.
Here find how you can improve your JavaScript skills with Javascript gaming

Abraham Meza Vega • Aug 14 '22

This is really great!
Another trick I've been using so far to debug multiple variables is to print them all in a object. i.e:
console.log({ var1, var2, var3 });