1. Volker at 11:50am on September 27, 2007

If you're developing with Firebug, the following code gives you another nice opportunity for debugging:

try { console.log("foo"); } catch(err) {}

...will only log in the Firebug console, if the browser knows the function. So your users won't see it, either does the evil IE.

2. Jesse Skinner at 12:05pm on September 27, 2007

Good point, Volker. I often add a chunk of code when I'm working just in case I forget a few console.log's:

if (!window.console) {
    window.console = {
        log: function(){}
    };
}

But I needed to come up with the hash technique to debug some JavaSscript in Internet Explorer on a live site.

3. Binny V A at 1:02pm on September 27, 2007

Thanks for the tip - I have used '?debug=true' to show debug messages in PHP and server side. So I am going to do something like this...
function debug_mode() {
    return document.location.href.match(/debug/);
}

4. Tom at 5:52pm on September 28, 2007

Sorry to disappoint you, but most professional web developers have been using this (or a similar) technique for years.

5. jeanmarie at 10:46am on October 2, 2007

@Tom
Thx for this useful comment. I was not aware of this dusty technique, because i'm a lame newbie.

6. hu dongsheng at 5:15am on November 14, 2007

Thanks. I like Javascript.

7. grayger at 5:58pm on March 28, 2008

Thanks for the tip. Using window.console in FF also looks good.

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