Wing Python IDE

This Wing Tip describes how to use the debugger in Wing Pro to write new Python code with direct access to the runtime state that the code is intended for, so you can immediately try out the code that you write. This is a far more efficient way to write most code, compared with working offline.

The key to working interactively in Wing is to run the debugger to a breakpoint in the code that you are working on. Once this is done, the auto-completer and other code intelligence features in Wing use both static analysis and runtime type analysis in code that is active on the debug process stack. The source of a symbol in the completer is indicated with the cog "runtime" icon.

In this context, you can immediately try out newly written code, and retry it as often as needed after correcting errors, by executing it in Wing Pro's Debug Console tool. You do need to be mindful of what the (possibly incorrect) code that you try does to the runtime state and restart the debugger if it becomes invalid. But in most cases it is possible to re-run corrected code and work iteratively without restarting your code.

Here is an example of live interactive coding in Wing Pro after running to a breakpoint in the editor:

Shown above: Entering code while the debugger is at a breakpoint, with auto-completion and auto-editing features that inspect the live runtime state of the debug process, then trying out an invocation in the Debug Console.

Notice that the above example uses a conditional breakpoint, as described in the previous Wing Tip. These are a great way to select the specific runtime case for which you want to write new code, for example to fix a bug that occurs only in a particular scenario.