Marais:

It's not embarrassing at all. In fact it's an old and quite valuable debugging technique. That's why I frequently create a simple 'test case' program to try to illustrate a bug. The act often helps you understand what's going on, and can point out interactions with other parts of your program.

It's also the reason that we frequently ask for a simple program that illustrates the problem. The act of doing that can help you answer the question yourself, which is a faster way to learn how to code.

(It's also the reason I like Test Driven Development (TDD), as it's a similar (in some ways) process.)

...roboticus

When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.