[IPython-user] debugging a function w/ipython

[belinda thom]

Fernando,

I am continuing this thread from a one-on-one email so the answers  
can be available on the list.

> 2) The lack of run on a particular portion of a file really hampers
> debugging in that you can't (as opposed to IDLE) do something as
> simple as clicking on a line of code to set a breakpoint on a line.
> (I'm used to the matlab debugger, with its xemacs interface).
>

 > F Perez said:
 >As we said, you can't set a function-named breakpoint, but you /can/
 >set a line-number breakpoint:
 >
 >run -d -b25 foo
 >
 >will run foo.py with a breakpoint pre-set at line #25.  Were you aware
 >of that, or does it not fit your needs?

Perhaps what I am desiring isn't even possible; Python's mindset is  
sufficiently different from the normal mode I'm used to (C++, Matlab)  
that I'm still approaching some problems from the wrong viewpoint,  
making tasks harder than they otherwise would be.

What I am currently not thrilled about w/the way I develop code in  
ipython is that I find I often have to modify the code itself to  
debug in a location I'm interested in.

Suppose I had a module foo.py:


class blah:

   <some class def'n stuff, including a method called bar>

<perhaps some other classes or functions...>

<the if __name__ == "__main__" check>:

    b = blah(...)
    b.foo(...)


When I wish to debug foo, this works fine, but then I want to debug  
other things, so I have to keep adding code I'd like to execute to  
the bottom of a file. What I'd much rather prefer is to be able to  
execute commands at the ipython command-line and have them just stop  
in the debugger at a particular line-number that I specify. Ideally,  
this would be "mouse-clickable" but I think the emacs/ipython code is  
not currently being actively developed (perhaps I'll get around to an  
extension like this someday; I dunno; I'm a big fan of emacs and use  
it for just about everything). But short of mouse-clickable, I'd like  
to be able to set a breakpoint in foo.py w/o having to add code at  
the bottom of the file to get it to break where I am asking it to  
when I use run.

Am I missing something really basic? Or does this type of debugging  
scheme (which I used heavily in Matlab) not make sense when  
developing Python code (and if so, why?)?

Again, thanks for your thoughtful and well-considered answers. One  
great thing about python-related lists is that so many people are  
excited about it that it is easy to jumpstart learning online.

I also have a namespace question, but will follow that up in another  
email.


--b