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.
Table of Contents
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:
This output shows the values of the variables x and y as they are passed into the add function, and the resulting value of the function call.
As you can see, the output is much more organized and readable than using the print function.
You can also use Icecream to print out multiple variables at once, like this:
from icecream import ic
def multiply(x, y, z):
return x * y * z
ic(multiply(x=2, y=3, z=4))
ic(multiply(x=3, y=4, z=2))
The output will look like this:
Overall, using Icecream to inspect variables can be a quick and effective way to understand what’s happening in your code. Give it a try and see how it can improve your debugging process.
Inspect a Dictionary using IceCream
To access a dictionary using Icecream, you can simply use the ic function and pass the function which contains the dictionary and then access the dictionary in the usual way.
For example, consider the following code:
from icecream import ic
my_dict = {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3}
ic(my_dict['a'])
ic(my_dict['b'])
In this example, the ic function, output the key and the value pair will be printed out when the function is called.
The output will look something like this:
Inspect Attributes of an Object using IceCream
To access the attributes of an object using Icecream, you can use the ic a decorator on the function that contains the object and then accesses the object’s attributes in the usual way.
For example, consider the following code:
from icecream import ic
class MyClass:
def __init__(self, x, y):
self.x = x
self.y = y
obj = MyClass(1, 2)
In this example, the ic decorator is applied to the get_attributes function, which means that the value of the variable obj will be printed out when the function is called.
ic(obj.x, obj.y)
The output will look something like this:
Debug in If-Condition using IceCream
To debug an if-condition using Icecream, you’ll need to use the ic a function containing the if-condition. It will allow you to print out the values of variables at each step of the function’s execution.
Here’s an example of how you might use Icecream to debug an if-condition:
from icecream import ic
def check_even(x):
if x % 2 == 0:
ic()
else:
ic()
check_even(4)
In this example, the ic the function is applied to the check_even function, which means that the value of the variable x will be printed out when the function is called.
The output will look something like this:
Overall, using Icecream to debug if-conditions can be a quick and effective way to understand what’s happening in your code. Give it a try and see how it can improve your debugging process.
Customizing IceCream Output
If you want to add a custom prefix, such as the time the code was executed, to your print statements using Icecream, you can do so by specifying the configureOutput function as passing time_format as an argument.
from datetime import datetime
from icecream import ic
import time
def time_format():
return f'{datetime.now()}| debug |> '
ic.configureOutput(prefix=time_format)
for _ in range(3):
time.sleep(1)
ic('Hello World')
If you execute this code it will be going to show the execution time in the output.
Now if you want more context for the output. You might also want to know the line number and file name from where the code was executed from. We can easily get the context of the code by adding includeContext=True as an argument in ic.configureOutput().
from icecream import ic
ic.configureOutput(includeContext=True)
def check_even(x):
if x % 2 == 0:
ic()
else:
ic()
ic(check_even(4))
You can see the output below,
Use IceCream Project Wide
If you are working on a project where you have hundreds of files then importing the ice cream library in every file will be a nightmare. There is an easy way around this problem.
Anup Das
I'm obsessed with python and write articles about python tutorials for Django, Data Science, and Automation.
