So what makes a good error message then? To me, it boils down to three pieces of information which should be conveyed by an error message: Context: What led to the error? What was the code trying to do when it failed? The error itself: What exactly failed? Mitigation: What needs to be done in order to overcome the error?

Of course, the best error message is no error message at all. In the case where something has gone awry, a program should do everything within its power to remedy the situation at hand.

A well-constructed error message should identify the program that is posting the error message should alert the customer to the specific problem should provide some specific indication as to how the problem may be solved should suggest where the customer may obtain further help should provide extra information to the person who is helping the customer should not suggest an action that will fail to solve the problem and thus waste the customer's time should not contain information that is unhelpful, redundant, incomplete, or inaccurate should provide an identifying code to distinguish it from other, similar messages

When you're constructing an error message, the important thing to remember is that your message must convey useful information.