Stop Using Print to Debugging In Python. Use IceCream Instead

Why I stopped using print() statements for debugging and why you should too

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Programming errors are almost unavoidable, and debugging can take up a significant amount of time. As a programmer, you’ve probably used the print function countless times to debug your code. 

While it’s a quick and easy way to see what’s going on in your program, it can become tedious and time-consuming as your programs get more complex.

Enter Icecream 🍦, a debugging tool that helps you debug your code more efficiently. In this blog post, we will discuss IceCream’s features, installation, and how to use it for debugging.



What is Icecream 🍦?

Icecream is a Python library that makes print debugging more readable with minimal code.

Unlike print(), IceCream does not require the developer to write additional code or manually print out the variables. Instead, it automatically displays the information, making the debugging process much faster.

Icecream is a function that you can use to replace the print function in your code. It works by allowing you to specify the variables you want to debug and then print their values in a more readable and organized way.

In addition to its simplicity and readability, Icecream has some other benefits over using the print function for debugging. For example, it’s faster and uses less memory, which can be especially important if you’re working with large datasets.

How Does IceCream Work?

IceCream works by analyzing the code and then displaying the results in a “breadcrumb” format. It will show the exact line of code that is causing the error and provide additional information such as the type of error, the variable’s value, and the object’s properties. This makes it easier to identify the root of the issue and allows developers to quickly fix the problem.

In addition, IceCream can also be used to debug multiple lines of code at once. This makes it easier for developers to find issues in more complex code and reduce the amount of time spent debugging.

Installing IceCream

To use Icecream, you’ll need to install it first using,

pip install icecream 

Getting Started With IceCream – Inspect Variables

To inspect variables using Icecream, you’ll need to import it into your code and use it as a decorator on the function you want to debug.

For example, let’s say you have the following function:

def add(x, y):
  return x + y

result = add(2, 3)

To use Icecream to inspect the variables in this function, you can do the following:

from icecream import ic

def add(x, y):
    return x + y

ic(add(2, 3))
ic(add(4, 5))

In this example, the ic decorator is applied to the add function, which means that the variables x and y will be printed out when the function is called. 

When you run this code, the output will look something like this:

IceCream Inspect Variables
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