[IPython-user] Re: ipython & debugging

[Fernando Perez]

George Gerber wrote:
> Fernando,
> 
> Hello. I am recent addition to the python community and also to ipython.
> Aspects of ipython, which I see as a great help towards programming is the 
> tab-completion as well as the who/whos-functions.
> 
> Thought:
> When running a piece of code within ipython, one is able to jump directly to 
> pdb if an error occurs. However, one loses then the rich functionality of 
> tab-completion and who, within that evironment. (It becomes more difficult to 
> get a holistic view of all your variables and their properties). One's 
> productivity would be greatly enhanced if ipython were able to provide us 
> with this functionality, during debugging sessions.

Hi George,

welcome and thanks for the kind comments on ipython.  Your request for 
enhanced functionality under pdb is already on my todo list.  Unfortunately it 
requires a non-trivial amount of work.  I'd love to have it, since it feels 
like a letdown to drop into pdb and all of a sudden be stuck in a 'crippled' 
shell.  But I looked into it in the past and realized that getting it all to 
work correctly is not just a quick hack.

I'm posting this cc-ed to the ipython list in case some kind user wants to 
pick it up as a small project.  Otherwise, it will probably simmer in the todo 
list for a while.  For me the next 'big' thing which ipython needs is a real 
internal cleanup, so feature enhancements which require significant work must, 
regrettably, take a second seat.  But it's not abandoned by any means, so 
eventually it will get done.

Best regards,

Fernando.