[Python-Dev] pdb mini-sprint report and questions (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Sat Jul 31 01:01:49 CEST 2010

On Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 3:45 PM, Georg Brandl <g.brandl at gmx.net> wrote:

to warm up for tomorrow's 3.2alpha1 release, I did a mini-sprint on pdb issues today.  I'm pleased to report that 14 issues could be closed, and pdb got a range of small new features, such as commands on the command line, "until " or "longlist" showing all the code for the current function (the latter courtesy of Antonio Cuni's pdb++).

One issue that's not yet closed is #7245, which adds a (very nice IMO) feature: when you press Ctrl-C while the program being debugged runs, you will not get a traceback but execution is suspended, and you can debug from the current point of execution -- just like in gdb. However, there were apparently issues with some of the buildbots when the patch was applied for a short time.  I also don't know how and if it works on Windows, so I'd need some helpful people testing it. Another question is about a feature of pdb++ that I personally would like, but imagine would make others unhappy:  one-letter abbreviations of commands such as c(ontinue) or l(ist) are also often-used variable names, so they are frequently typed without the required "!" or "print" that would distinguish them from the command, and the command is actually executed.  The feature in question would default to printing the variable in cases where one exists -- handy enough or too inconsistent?

Warning: 'p' is not the same as 'print'. 'p' is a built-in command that prints the expression's repr(). 'print' OTOH falls back through the interpreter and executes a print statement or function, which prints the str().

For me personally, the problem this feature tries to address is never a problem (of course I am probably unique as far as pdb users go :-) so I'd like a way to turn it off.

Also, are there any other features you would like to see?  One feature of pdb++ that is general enough and has no dependencies would be watch expressions...

Cool.

-- --Guido van Rossum (python.org/~guido)

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