Add your useful tools here -- editors, debuggers and other utils that really help with the process.

Debuggers

Name

Platform

Notes

pdb

All

The standard library debugger, part of all Python installations.

pudb

Unix,Mac OS X

A visual, console-based, full-screen debugger, designed as a more comfortable drop-in replacement for pdb. (also supports IPython)

PdbRcIdea

All

A .pdbrc for Python's standard debugger, pdb, which allows you to run arbitrary Python commands on pdb startup.

gdb

*nix

See DebuggingWithGdb

trepan2, trepan3k

Unix, Windows, Mac OS X

A rewrite of pdb/pydb with closer compliance to gdb . This is the only debugger that I (rocky) am aware of that uses decompilation technology (also written by me), so that you can debug CPython bytcode files where no source code is available. Decompilation is also used to provide sensible debugging inside exec strings, and more accurate position information when stopped or in showing a stack trace. In addition to the features of pdb/pydb, the debugger supports syntax coloring (via pygments), has extensive on-line help (in rendered reStructuredText), readthedocs documentation, command completion, a smarter eval, debugger macros written in Python, and more.

pdb++

Unix, Windows, Mac OS X

An extension of the pdb module of the standard library. It is meant to be fully compatible with its predecessor, yet it introduces a number of new features to make your debugging experience as nice as possible.

Python-pydebug

Unix, Windows, Mac OS X

A set of debugging decorators which respects Django's settings in case the package is withing a Django project. It allows a user to PDB into a function, do a Line profiler, inspect an object and Disasemble the function.

winpdb-reborn

Windows, Linux

Fork of winpdb after this was unmaintained

ipdb

All

Improved version of pdb that is part of IPython but also can be used separately

madbg

linux, python>=3.7

fully-featured remote debugger: attaching to running programs, especially usefull to debug programms with TUI

Debuggers that are no longer maintained:

Name

Platform

Notes

HAP Python Remote Debugger

Windows

A python IDE with remote debugging capability.

Winpdb and Rpdb2

Unix,Linux,Windows

An advanced python debugger, with support for smart breakpoints, multiple threads, namespace modification, embedded debugging, encrypted communication and speed of up to 20 times that of pdb.

pydb

Unix, Windows, OS X

Obsolete. An expanded version of pdb loosely based on the gdb command set. The debugger supports thread debugging, signal handling, non-interactive tracing, and much more. This was written in the era of Python 2.4-2.6. See trepan3k below.

Xpdb

Unix

pdb extension with curses module that adds console window with source code.

JpyDbg

Mac OS X, OS/2, Unix, VMS and Windows

Both a CPYTHON and a JPYTHON(JYTHON) debugging framework which has been integrated inside Jedit as a standard jedit pluggin.

pyDebug

Unix,Windows

Debugger for Python programs with a graphical user interface. It uses bdb (part of stdlib) but adds a GUI and has some powerful features like object browser, windows for variables, classes, functions, exceptions, stack, conditional breakpoints, etc.

rpdb

Unix, Windows,Mac OS X

(Predecessor of rpdb2 and winpdb) rpdb.py improves pdb's usability and adds support for remote debugging, multiple threads debugging, post mortem of unhandled exceptions, and for debugging of embedded scripts.

DDD

Unix

Graphical front-end for command-line debuggers such as GDB, DBX, WDB, Ladebug, JDB, XDB, the Perl debugger, the bash debugger, GNU Make debugger, or the Python debugger. DDD displays data structures as graphs and plots. A deprecated version of pydb comes with this package. For GNU make debugging, use ddd-test5

Pyclewn

*nix, Windows

Pyclewn allows you to use Vim as a front end to a debugger. Pyclewn currently supports gdb and pdb.

IDEs with Debug Capabilities

Since debugging is one of the the functions that usually helps make up the "Integrated" in "Integrated Development Environment", expect that most IDEs will have debugging capability even if not listed explicitly here.

Thonny

Mac OS X, Linux, Windows

For teaching/learning programming. Focused on program runtime visualization. Provides stepping both in statements and expressions, no-hassle variables view, separate mode for explaining references etc.

PyDev

Mac OS X, Linux, Windows

Allows debugging multiple threads in Jython and Python (It is featured as a 'Python IDE' plugin for Eclipse).

Wing IDE

Mac OS X, Linux, Windows

An IDE that can debug multiple threads and multiple processes, including code launched from the IDE or code launched externally, running under CPython and Stackless Python. The GUI includes a Debug Probe, which is a Python shell running in the context of the paused debug process. The IDE's debugger also features value watching (by symbolic path, object reference, or a combination), conditional breakpoints, move program counter, debugging of tests running in the integrated unit testing tool, special support for Django, and How-Tos for debugging code running under Flask, web3py, Django, Google App Engine, wxPython, PyQt, Tkinter, Blender, Maya, NUKE, and many other packages.

Komodo IDE

Mac OS X, Linux, Windows

!PyCharm IDE

Mac OS X, Linux, Windows

PyCharm's integrated debugger works for Python and Jython, supports debugging of multiple threads, remote debugging, allows debugging Django, Google App Engine applications and unit tests. The debugger features various breakpoints, stepping modes, frames view, watches, evaluate expression tool and a debug console. Conditional and Exception breakpoint types are available for more precise control. Debug console allows executing any Python statements in the context of the process being debugged while stopped at a breakpoint.

PyScripter

Windows

Pyshield

Linux, Windows

An IDE tool used to edit, debug Python scripts, publish encrypted scripts, build a standalone executable file, and make installation in various forms(.msi, .tar.gz, .rpm, .zip, .tar.bz2). It includes an editor simulating Emacs python-mode, a GUI debugger simulating GDB, a project view used to manage scripts, modules, extensions, packages and platform specific data files.

Python Tools for Visual Studio

Windows

Supports Python (any implementation with sufficient sys.settrace capabilities) and IronPython .NET debugging. Includes MPI cluster debugging, breakpoints, conditional breakpoints, locals, watch, and immediate windows, step into/out/over, break on exception, and break on unhandled exception.

Visual Studio Code

Mac OS X, Linux, Windows

Visual Studio Code is a source code editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux and MacOS. It includes support for debugging, embedded Git control, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, and code refactoring. It is free and open-source, although the official download is under a proprietary license. Supports Python debugging via extensions.

Mu

Mac OS X, Linux, Windows

A simple Python editor for beginner programmers, providing a simple interface depending on the project type. It includes visual debugging as first citizen.

Jupyter

Web (Mac OS X, Linux, Windows)

Web UI for Notebooks in Python and other programming language, has a visual debugger intregrated.

Profilers

cProfile

All

profiler in the Python standard library

profile

All

pure Python module, in the Python standard library

pptop

Remote process inspector/profiler for Python 2/3. Uses GDB to inject code.

pyspy

Easy to use sampling profiler

scalene

high-performance, high-precision CPU and memory profiler

yappi

thread&coroutine aware

line_profiler

memory_profiler

pympler

Development tool to measure, monitor and analyze the memory behavior of Python objects

Memray

Mac OS X, Linux, Windows

memory profiler for Python

Special-purpose tools

FirePython

GoogleAppEngine + Firefox

FirePython is a python logger console integrated into Firebug (similar to !FirePHP). See http://appengine-cookbook.appspot.com/recipe/firepython-logger-console-inside-firebug/

manhole

Mac OS X, Linux

Remote process inspector (using an active component, using a thread or a plain simple signal handler).

pdb-clone

Remote process inspector. Uses GDB to inject code.

PyConquer

Any

Trace hook logger which outputs each thread in its own "swimlane" to make multithreaded analysis easier. Can also time calls (naively) and watch variables.

pydbattach

Remote process inspector. Uses GDB to inject code.

pyrasite

Mac OS X, Linux

Library and a set of tools for injecting code into running Python programs to monitor, analyze, introspect, and alter running Python programs easily. Uses GDB to inject code.

pyringe

Remote process inspector. Uses GDB to inject code.

pystuck

Remote process inspector. Uses GDB to inject code. Uses rpyc for communication.

pythontracer

wsgi-shell

Remote process inspector (using an active component, a thread).

hunter

A flexible code tracing toolkit. Can print out code and variables, and filter the events.

icecream

Sweet and creamy print debugging -- inspect variables, expressions, and code execution with a single, simple function call.

birdseye

Graphical Python debugger which lets you easily view the values of all evaluated expressions

peepshow

Provides two utilities: show: a lightweight function that prints name and value of your variable(s) to the console, and peep: featured, interactive interface for data inspection.

PySnooper

Never use print for debugging again. PySnooper is a poor man's debugger. If you can't use a real debugger for some reason or other, and you're resorting to adding print statements to your code, this is for you. Add just one decorator line to your functions, and you get a complete log of all the lines that ran in the function and all the variables that were changed.

snoop

An improved version of PySnooper.

VizTracer

Unix, Windows, Mac OS X

Trace and visualize your function execution on a graphical UI, with filters and arbitrary data logging support. Featured with a virtual debugger like pdb to debug your log of execution

PythonDebuggingTools (last edited 2022-05-01 20:51:18 by Nudin)

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