often when I debug functional style programs (that is there are some greps and maps present), then I wished for some accelerated stepping in the debugger.
Example:
Instead of
main::(perldb_demo.pl:4): my @a = (1..10); DB<1> n main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:7): print "found\n";
I would like to have
main::(perldb_demo.pl:4): my @a = (1..10); DB<1> n main::(perldb_demo.pl:6): if (0 < scalar grep { $_ == 9 } @a) { DB<1> main::(perldb_demo.pl:7): print "found\n";
So generally I would like to use the debugger command 's' for small steps/increments and 'n' for bigger steps. In the example above, if the original behavior is wanted, use the 's' command which still interrupts grep's code block for each element.
I asked Richard Foley about it, and he agreed
that this might be useful for other users as well. Also, modifying the 'n' command would make more sense
than to add a new command just for stepping over grep/map/sort and otherwise being identical to 'n'.
A possible danger of this change might be this: the actual involved looping is not visible anymore, leading to a false impression of efficiency.
So, I have made a patch for the debugger (Perl 5.10.0). Currently the new code checks for grep/map/sort and in that case sets a temporary breakpoint like the 'c' command would do. Otherwise the old behavior is used. Probably other operators (all, any, ...) from List::Util and List::MoreUtils would qualify also, but currently they are not part of the core.
Before I contact p5p, I would like to hear your opinions for this proposal.
Thanks for comments!
--- perl5db.pl.org 2007-12-18 10:47:07.000000000 +0100 +++ perl5db.pl 2008-09-01 23:02:16.718750000 +0200 @@ -2643,7 +2643,7 @@ demarcation' above which commands can be entered anytime, and below w +hich they can't. -=head4 C<n> - single step, but don't trace down into subs +=head4 C<n> - single step, but don't trace down into subs, and not ev +en into grep/map/sort Done by setting C<$single> to 2, which forces subs to execute straigh +t through when entered (see C<DB::sub>). We also save the C<n> command in C<$la +ststep>, @@ -2655,9 +2655,41 @@ $cmd =~ /^n$/ && do { end_report(), next CMD if $finished and $level <= + 1; - # Single step, but don't enter subs. - $single = 2; + if ( $dbline[$line] =~ m{\b( + grep + | + map + | + sort)\b}xms + ) { + # Scan forward to the next executable lin +e + $i = $line; + ++$i; + $max = $#dbline; + ++$i while $dbline[$i] == 0 && $i < $max; + # Check if we would leave the sub + my @sublast = split m{-}xms, $sub{$sub}; + if (($sub eq '' || $i <= $sublast[-1]) + && $dbline[$i] != 0) { + # Next line is in current sub + # or no sub at all + + # Set up the one-time-break sigil. + $dbline{$i} =~ s/($|\0)/;9$1/; # add + one-time-only b.p. + + # Clear single stepping flags + $DB::single &= ~3; + } else { + # have no line (oneliner) + # or about to leave the sub... + # Turn on stack tracing one level up. + $stack[ -1 ] |= 1; + } + } else { + # Single step, but don't enter subs. + $single = 2; + } # Save for empty command (repeat last). $laststep = $cmd; last CMD;