Debug Faster with Chrome DevTools in 2023

Introduction

Over the past decade, Chrome DevTools has evolved into an indispensable toolkit for web developers. With its comprehensive debugging and optimization capabilities, DevTools is now deeply integrated into modern web development workflows.

As Chrome continues its dominance as the leading browser, each update to DevTools brings new features to help developers build robust web apps more efficiently. Recent releases have included innovative capabilities like Logpoints and improved code coverage that enable debugging faster than ever.

In this article, we’ll highlight some of the most impactful Chrome DevTools updates and how you can utilize them to accelerate debugging and optimization in 2023. Whether you are diagnosing layout issues, debugging JavaScript code, or optimizing performance - the latest DevTools has you covered. Let's see how these new capabilities can level up your skills for building better web experiences.

Logpoints - Lightweight Logging for Faster Debugging

One of the most exciting DevTools additions is Logpoints, which provide a refined logging approach compared to cluttering up the console with console.log(). With Logpoints, you can log values from code execution without modifying the source or disrupting execution flow.

This makes it easy to debug flows and see how data changes without the disruption of traditional breakpoints. Here is a real debugging example using Logpoints to monitor state:

// Complex function we want to debug
function processOrder(order) {
  // Logpoint to output order details
  logpoint(order);
  
  // Code that processes order
  // ...
}

We added a simple logpoint that will print details on the order object without interfering with code execution. As the function runs, we can examine how the order state changes without any console clutter.

Some of the most useful ways to leverage Logpoints for faster debugging include:

• Quickly logging values to check logic and assumptions
• Monitoring key variables as code runs to spot issues
• Instrumenting code without modifying source
• Debugging async promise flows and timing issues
• Pinpointing when problems emerge without stopping code

Overall, Logpoints provide a flexible debugging workflow compared to disruptive breakpoints and messy console logs. They help you diagnose issues faster without impacting users.

Improved Code Coverage for Optimization Insights

The Coverage tab in DevTools, which shows how much code is executed on a page, has also gained some major improvements. These updates include:

• Per-function coverage metrics to pinpoint unused code
• More consistent results across page reloads
• Call counts to measure code path frequency

With these upgrades, it's far easier to analyze code coverage in Chrome to find optimization opportunities. For example, you can now identify dead code paths that are never run. Removing these results in smaller bundle sizes and improved performance.

Here is a screenshot showing the per-function coverage data:

The coverage percentages reveal which functions are unused and can be removed. This helps you optimize bundles and improve startup times.

Other use cases where the improved coverage data helps debugging include:

• Finding areas lacking test coverage
• Pinpointing redundant logic and code paths
• Guiding performance optimizations like code splitting

Overall, code coverage insights enable data-driven optimizations to ship higher quality web apps.

Performance Optimization with Lighthouse Audits

In addition to debugging, Chrome DevTools also enables optimizing web app performance through actionable audits and metrics.

One essential tool is Lighthouse, which provides automated auditing against Google’s web best practices. You can easily generate a Lighthouse report grading your app on metrics like:

• Page load speed
• Accessibility
• SEO
• Progressive web app criteria
• Performance best practices

For example, here is a report showing opportunities to improve loading performance:

Lighthouse takes the guesswork out of optimization by providing actionable feedback based on proven best practices. Focus on enhancements with the biggest user impact.

Meanwhile, the Performance panel offers low-level performance profiles during real usage to surface optimization opportunities:

With details like JS heap allocations, DOM nodes, and layout counts, you can pinpoint costly operations impacting users.

Together, Lighthouse audits and Performance panel profiling enable data-driven optimization for faster, smoother web app experiences that delight users.

Conclusion

Recent Chrome DevTools upgrades like Logpoints, improved code coverage, and optimization audits make building robust web apps faster than ever.

Logpoints deliver non-disruptive logging to accelerate diagnosing issues. Meanwhile, enhanced coverage data provides optimization insights to ship higher quality code. Auditing tools like Lighthouse enable benchmarking apps against proven performance and UX best practices.

We covered some of the most beneficial new DevTools capabilities to start utilizing now for leveling up your debugging and optimization skills in 2023. With its continued evolution, Chrome DevTools further cements itself as an indispensable part of modern web development workflows.

To learn more about how DevTools can help you debug and optimize your web projects, check out DevHunt. Their platform features the best new web developer tools to build better web experiences.