NAME Acme::CPANModules::DumpingDataForDebugging - Some modules and tips when dumping data structures for debugging VERSION This document describes version 0.001 of Acme::CPANModules::DumpingDataForDebugging (from Perl distribution Acme-CPANModules-DumpingDataForDebugging), released on 2020-02-07. DESCRIPTION Some modules and tips when dumping data structures for debugging. This list catalogs some of the modules you can you to dump your data structures for debugging purposes, so the modules will be judged mostly by the appropriateness of its output for human viewing (instead of other criteria like speed, footprint, etc). INCLUDED MODULES * Data::Dumper Everybody knows this module and it's core so sometimes it's the only appropriate choice. However, the default setting is not really optimized for viewing by human. I suggest you tweak these before dumping your data: * Set $Data::Dumper::Useqq to 1. By default, Data::Dumper quotes strings using single-quotes and does not quote things like "\n" and "\b" making it difficult to spot special characters. * Data::Dump A data dumper that produces nicer Perl code output, with features like vertical alignment of "=>" when dumping hashes, compacting sequences like 1,2,3,4,5,6 to 1..6, compacting repeating characters in string like "ccccccccccccccccccccc" to ("c" x 21), and so on. It tries harder to produce Perl code that generates the original data structure, particularly with circular references. But with interlinked references like trees, Data::Dumper might be more helpful in showing you which references get mentioned where. For example this data: $tree = {children=>[{children=>[{}]}, {children=>[]}]}; $tree->{children}[0]{parent}=$tree; $tree->{children}[1]{parent}=$tree; $tree->{children}[0]{children}[0]{parent} = $tree->{children}[0]; Data::Dump will produce: do { my $a = { children => [ { children => [{ parent => 'fix' }], parent => 'fix' }, { children => [], parent => 'fix' }, ], }; $a->{children}[0]{children}[0]{parent} = $a->{children}[0]; $a->{children}[0]{parent} = $a; $a->{children}[1]{parent} = $a; $a; } while Data::Dumper will produce: $VAR1 = { 'children' => [ { 'children' => [ { 'parent' => $VAR1->{'children'}[0] } ], 'parent' => $VAR1 }, { 'parent' => $VAR1, 'children' => [] } ] }; * Data::Dump::Color A modification to Data::Dump which adds color (and color theme) support, as well as other visual aids like depth and array index/hash pair count indicator. It's usually my go-to module for debugging. * Data::Dumper::Compact A relatively recent module by MSTROUT. I will need to use this more to see if I really like the output, but so far I do. * XXX A nice little dumper module from the creator of YAML. Obviously, it uses YAML output by default but it's configurable to dump in other formats. For example: PERL_XXX_DUMPER=Data::Dump::Color It's main selling point is that the dumper function returns the original arguments so the dumping can be done in various places in code, making it more convenient. More (if not all) dumpers should do this too. * Data::Printer Favorites among many Perl programmers, it sports colors, array index indicator, as well as nice object dumper showing methods and inheritance information. It's also very customizable. It uses its own format though, and my preference for dumping is the Perl format (with additional informations/hints as comments) so I've never used it in my daily coding activities. I probably should though. * JSON::Color JSON is a limited format; it cannot represent many things that Perl supports e.g. globs, circular references, or even ASCII NUL. But if you are working only with JSON-able data, this JSON dumping module adds color output. * YAML::Tiny::Color FAQ What are ways to use this module? Aside from reading it, you can install all the listed modules using cpanmodules: % cpanmodules ls-entries DumpingDataForDebugging | cpanm -n or Acme::CM::Get: % perl -MAcme::CM::Get=DumpingDataForDebugging -E'say $_->{module} for @{ $LIST->{entries} }' | cpanm -n This module also helps lcpan produce a more meaningful result for "lcpan related-mods" when it comes to finding related modules for the modules listed in this Acme::CPANModules module. HOMEPAGE Please visit the project's homepage at . SOURCE Source repository is at . BUGS Please report any bugs or feature requests on the bugtracker website When submitting a bug or request, please include a test-file or a patch to an existing test-file that illustrates the bug or desired feature. SEE ALSO Acme::CPANModules - about the Acme::CPANModules namespace cpanmodules - CLI tool to let you browse/view the lists AUTHOR perlancar COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE This software is copyright (c) 2020 by perlancar@cpan.org. This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.