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
    <https://metacpan.org/release/Acme-CPANModules-DumpingDataForDebugging>.

SOURCE
    Source repository is at
    <https://github.com/perlancar/perl-Acme-CPANModules-DumpingDataForDebugg
    ing>.

BUGS
    Please report any bugs or feature requests on the bugtracker website
    <https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Acme-CPANModules-Dump
    ingDataForDebugging>

    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 <perlancar@cpan.org>

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.

