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Stepping executes your program line by line, pausing after each line so you can evaluate the result.

If you are confident about a block of code, you don’t have to step through it again and again to get to the uncertain areas. You can, for example, step over any lines that call subroutines (including methods and expressions).

For example, if you have already determined that no bugs exist in a particular subroutine, select the line that calls the subroutine, click the Step Over button in the toolbar, and run the program. The Debugger steps over the execution of the subroutine so you can focus on the rest of the program. The call to the subroutine still occurs, and the stepped-over subroutine still executes; you just don’t see the line-by-line execution in the Source window. The Debugger then stops at the line following the stepped-over subroutine.

On the other hand, if you want to check out what a subroutine is doing, you can step into it, and further, step into any nested subroutines as well. Then you can step out from the subroutine and return to the main program level.

Commands for stepping over, stepping in, and stepping out of subroutines are available from the Run menu and toolbar.