How should I use debug/release mode in Visual Studio?

Question

I usually test my code locally on my work machine and then move it to development environment and then finally to production environment. What is the best way to use debug/release mode for this scenario? Do I only need to care about debug mode in my machine? Should I publish debug mode or release mode to development? I know probably I should publish using the release mode to production. I didn't really pay attention to all of this before so I have been working only in debug mode all the time, which I know I shouldn't.

Edit: Thanks for the answers. It looks like it's a good idea to only use debug mode in my own machine. Even though it's in development machine, it's basically releasing to the public (co-workers, qa) so it should be in release mode. And of course it should be release mode when releasing to prod.

Answer 1

When releasing / publishing an application you should do so in Release mode. Release mode is for just that, releasing applications. The code produced is typically more performant and many removes many checks that are more associated with the development phase of an application.

In a typical day, you should be developing in Debug mode. Most languages insert extra checks into a debug mode application. These spot more bugs but tend to slow down the application a bit.

Yet you must also do siginificant testing of Release mode as part of your development process. Customers will only actually see the Release mode version of your product and it's possible for bugs to be Debug / Release mode specific. The bug checks inserted in debug mode can introduce side effects that hide real bugs in your application.