For Python 2.7 I have a little utility for debugging:
def printvar(label, var): print "%s:\n%s" % (label, pformat(var)) Often I call it like printvar("foo", foo).
Is it possible to simplify that a tiny bit and only pass in the variable, like printvar(foo), but still have it print the name of the variable? Using introspection or something?
You can't do that, but you can approximate the reverse: pass in only the label, and have it grab the actual value. Here's a quick version:
def printvar(label): for frame in inspect.getouterframes(inspect.currentframe())[1:]: local_vars = frame[0].f_locals if label in local_vars: print "%s:\n%s" % (label, frame[0].f_locals[label]) return raise NameError("No such variable") Then you can do this:
def foo(): x = 2 printvar('x') >>> foo() x: 2 This is, of course, very hacky business: the code looks through the local-variable namespaces of every stack frame in its call chain. Normally this kind of trickery is to be avoided, but for debugging purposes it can be useful in a pinch.
