Python debug in Jupyter notebook

This week, we will talk about how to debug in the jupyter notebook. From this week, I will also try to use Python3 as much as possible in my code. You can find the notebook at Qingkai's Github. 

Let's start by showing you some examples:

Activate debugger after we run the code

The first example is after we have an error occurred, for example, we have a function that squares the input number, but:

def square_number(x):
    
    sq = x**2
    sq += x
    
    return sq

square_number('10')

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)

<ipython-input-2-e429f5113bd2> in <module>()
----> 1 square_number('10')


<ipython-input-1-822cf3bc7b4e> in square_number(x)
      1 def square_number(x):
      2 
----> 3     sq = x**2
      4     sq += x
      5 


TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for ** or pow(): 'str' and 'int'

After we have this error, we could activate the debugger by using the magic command - %debug, which will open an interactive debugger for you. You can type in commands in the debugger to get useful information. 

%debug

ipdb> h

Documented commands (type help <topic>):
========================================
EOF    cl         disable  interact  next    psource  rv         unt   
a      clear      display  j         p       q        s          until 
alias  commands   down     jump      pdef    quit     source     up    
args   condition  enable   l         pdoc    r        step       w     
b      cont       exit     list      pfile   restart  tbreak     whatis
break  continue   h        ll        pinfo   return   u          where 
bt     d          help     longlist  pinfo2  retval   unalias  
c      debug      ignore   n         pp      run      undisplay

Miscellaneous help topics:
==========================
exec  pdb

ipdb> p x
'10'
ipdb> type(x)
<class 'str'>
ipdb> p locals()
{'x': '10'}
ipdb> q

Here, the magic command '%debug' activate the interactive debugger pdb in the notebook, and you can type to see the value of the variables after the error occurs, like the ones I typed in above. There are some most frequent commands you can type in the pdb, like:

• n(ext) line and run this one
• c(ontinue) running until next breakpoint
• p(rint) print varibles
• l(ist) where you are
• 'Enter' Repeat the previous command
• s(tep) Step into a subroutine
• r(eturn) Return out of a subroutine
• h(elp) h
• q(uit) the debugger

You can find more information about the pdb from here

Activate debugger before run the code

We could also turn on the debugger before we even run the code:

%pdb on

Automatic pdb calling has been turned ON

square_number('10')

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)

<ipython-input-5-e429f5113bd2> in <module>()
----> 1 square_number('10')


<ipython-input-1-822cf3bc7b4e> in square_number(x)
      1 def square_number(x):
      2 
----> 3     sq = x**2
      4     sq += x
      5 


TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for ** or pow(): 'str' and 'int'

ipdb> p sq
*** NameError: name 'sq' is not defined
ipdb> p x
'10'
ipdb> c

# let's turn off the debugger
%pdb off

Automatic pdb calling has been turned OFF

Add a breakpoint

Sometimes we want to add breakpoints to the code

import pdb

def square_number(x):
    
    sq = x**2
    
    # we add a breakpoint here
    pdb.set_trace()
    
    sq += x
    
    return sq

square_number(3)

> <ipython-input-8-4d6192d84091>(8)square_number()
-> sq += x
(Pdb) l
  3         sq = x**2
  4     
  5         # we add a breakpoint here
  6         pdb.set_trace()
  7     
  8  ->     sq += x
  9     
 10         return sq
[EOF]
(Pdb) p x
3
(Pdb) p sq
9
(Pdb) c
12