On Sun, May 30, 2021 at 9:19 AM Cameron Simpson <c...@cskk.id.au> wrote: > > On 29May2021 09:51, Rich Shepard <rshep...@appl-ecosys.com> wrote: > >I knew the debugging process with Fortran and C, but haven't learned how to > >effectively use pdb to find bugs that don't issue a traceback or obvious > >wrong answer such as my module displaying an empty window with no > >widgets. > > I've only just started with pdb. As of Python 3.7 there's a builtin > function named breakpoint() which drops you into the debugger. I've > never been a big debugger person, historicly using print() and > equivalent. However, this makes it very easy to insert this call into a > piece of code instead of having to invoke one's pogramme in a special > way. > > I'd imagine debugging is much like it is in C. Wait for the breakpoint > to trip, then inspect the programme variables. >
At its most fundamental level, debugging is the same regardless of the language: make a bug happen, then see as much as you possibly can about what caused it. Whether that's dumping print() calls through the code or using a debug harness, the normal way to figure out what code's doing is to see what your variables hold at different times. Using something like gdb, pdb, etc, etc, is just a shorthand for putting lots and LOTS of print calls into your code. So if you're not comfortable with those tools, there's no shame in using the more obvious/simple way of doing things! (Plus, there's not always an opportunity to use a debug harness. Sometimes you just have to put your prints into production and let it run for two weeks in the hope that the bug will show itself.) ChrisA -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
