Question

Logging can get complicated, quickly. Considering that you have some code, how do you add logging to it? What library(ies) do you use?

What are some good code techniques for getting the most out of your logging statements while having minimal impact on your application?

Answer 1

Some aspects I would like to add about logging practices.

1. Make it a practice to separate functional logging from development logging. In a production environment, functional logging may involve a DBMS or some other resource. We can achieve this by writing a wrappers on actual logger.
2. In a multi-user environment, log statements become difficult to read, have unique user session-id and log it during development phase. Then a simple perl script can filter out the sections, making debugging simpler. Easy to do using wrapper classes as described above
3. Wrapper classes also free you from being tied to one specific logging api.
4. Try aspect oriented approach to logging where possible, this is essentially done using point cuts (method entry/exit points can be easily covered). Cleaning up code will be easier.