[python-advocacy] Python bug-hunting examples

[Tal Einat]

Hi all,

I'd like to suggest making several screencast showing some good
examples of Python debugging. I believe this could go a long way
towards advocating Python. Example debugging sessions (textual),
accompanied by screenshots etc., would also be great.

Here is what got me thinking about this: the #3 most voted for request
on ShowMeDo [1]:
"Seeing how an experienced Python programmer hunts down bugs."

>From my experience, Python is so easy to debug that usually debugging
tools and methods are taught/learned relatively late, if at all. The
short Edit/Run cycle (as opposed to Edit/Compile/Link/Run),
easy-to-use print statement, and out-of-the-box string representations
of objects, make inserting print statements to see what's going on so
easy and useful that's it is enough for many users.

Still, more complex situations do arise. But Python has some great
tools for debugging! And debugging Python is fun and powerful thanks
to its being interpreted, along with full introspection.

In many work environments, debugging takes up a lot of time and is
considered very hard. Showing how debuggable (?) Python is could help
convince potential users of its power and speed (of development with
it).

There are also more advanced debugging scenarios - threads and remote
debugging, just off the top of my head. Showing how to effectively do
these with Python could complement the simpler examples very well.
But, of course, we should start at the beginning.

- Tal Einat

[1] http://showmedo.com/requests