How to step through Python code to help debug issues?

Question

In Java/C# you can easily step through code to trace what might be going wrong, and IDE\'s make this process very user friendly.

Can you trace through python code in

Answer 1

PyCharm is an IDE for Python that includes a debugger. Watch this YouTube video for an introduction on using PyCharm's debugger to step through code.

PyCharm Tutorial - Debug python code using PyCharm

Note: This is not intended to be an endorsement or review. PyCharm is a commercial product that one needs to pay for, but the company does provide a free license to students and teachers, as well as a "lightweight" Community version that is free and open-source.

Answer 2

If you come from Java/C# background I guess your best bet would be to use Eclipse with Pydev. This gives you a fully functional IDE with debugger built in. I use it with django as well.

Answer 3

Starting in Python 3.7, you can use the breakpoint() built-in function to enter the debugger:

foo()
breakpoint()  # drop into the debugger at this point
bar()

By default, breakpoint() will import pdb and call pdb.set_trace(). However, you can control debugging behavior via sys.breakpointhook() and use of the environment variable PYTHONBREAKPOINT.

See PEP 553 for more information.

Answer 4

https://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonDebuggingTools

pudb is a good drop-in replacement for pdb

Answer 5

If you want an IDE with integrated debugger, try PyScripter.

Answer 6

Programmatically stepping and tracing through python code is possible too (and its easy!). Look at the sys.settrace() documentation for more details. Also here is a tutorial to get you started.