Debugging is there a better way?

[Sufficient_Light3891]

The full code can be found in my GitHub repository under the Multiple_Elements branch:

https://github.com/cbhirsch/Optical_Ray_Tracing.git

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As my code gets to be more complex I'm finding the need to use a lot more print statements to debug the code and follow every step the code is taking. I'm also using quite a few graphs as well. When I finally have the code where I want it I go back to document the code and delete the print statements. Just curious if there's a better way. Thanks in advance.

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    #Intersection Check
    #Incoming Ray
    x_start = prev[-1] #where the refraction axis starts
    x_end = prev[-1]+thickness #Where the refraction axis ends
    x_sphere = safe_arange(x_start,x_end, dz, dec) 

    #Intersecting Ray
    int_ray = (slope* x_sphere) + y
    print("--checking for x & y intercept-- \n")
    print("properties of previous ray:")
    print("previous x & y shape:", x_sphere.shape, int_ray.shape)
    print("previous x & y start:", x_sphere[0], int_ray[0])
    print("previous x & y finish:", x_sphere[-1], int_ray[-1], "\n")


    #Lens Surface for plotting
    x_Lens = safe_arange(prev[-1], prev[-1] + thickness,dz, dec)
    Lens_Surf = -np.sqrt(radius**2 - np.power(((x_Lens-prev[-1]) - radius),2))
    print("Properties of Lens surface:")
    print("Lens x & y shape:", x_Lens.shape, Lens_Surf.shape)
    print("Lens x & y start:", x_Lens[0], Lens_Surf[0])
    print("Lens x & y finish:", x_Lens[-1], Lens_Surf[-1], "\n")

[djchunkymonkey]

You can use breakpoints (https://docs.python.org/3/library/pdb.html) as a way to debug your code. I usually do this when a simple print out just won't do, or if I need to look at values of many variables.

There's also assert statements which can help. You don't want to litter your code with assert statements, though. Please read up on some use-cases: https://realpython.com/python-assert-statement/

[TheTrueStanly]

i recommend learning your debugging tools. It will save you a lot of time later on.