GRgregsadetsky·Jul 19, 2026Submission
IceCream – Never use print() to debug again
35 points · Open discussiongruns
icecream
Python2018–2026
gruns / icecream
icecream
🍦 Never use print() to debug again.
16Distinct people
16Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
10.1KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
🍦 Never use print() to debug again.
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year16 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2018-02-14 17:54:58 UTC to 2026-07-19 01:39:04 UTC.
* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 1 | 1 |
What Hacker News says
16 sourcesYes, it's a lot of spec work. But a lot of it is research and exploring alternatives. Sometimes Claude suggests ideas I would have never thought of or attempted on my own. Like a custom python websocket server: https://github.com/Leftium/rift-local
(I also implemented the previous version with only a high-level, basic understanding of websockets: https://rift-transcription.vercel.app/sherpa)
I think of Claude like a "force-multiplier."
I have been able to implement ideas I previously gave up on. I can test out new ideas much faster.
For example, https://github.com/Leftium/gg started out as 100% hand-crafted code. I wanted gg to be able to print out the expression in the code in addition to the value like python icecream. (It's more useful to get both the value and the variable name/expression.) I previously tried, and gave up. Claude help
Read the rest
ed me add this feature within a few hours.
And now gg has its own virtual dev console optimized for interacting with coding agents. A very useful feature that I would probaly not have attempted without Claude. It's taken the "open in editor" feture to a completely new level.
I have implemented other features that I would have never attempted or even thought about. For example without Claud's assistance https://ws.leftium.com would not have many features like the animated background that resembles the actual sky color.
60 minute forecast was on my TODO list for a long time. Claude helped me add it within an afternoon or so.
Note: depending on complexity of the feature I want to add the spec varies in the level of detail. Sometimes there is no spec outside Claude's plans in the chat session.
[1]: https://github.com/gruns/icecream
Looks like a fancy version of good old icecream.
https://github.com/gruns/icecream
If you never heard about it, scroll to the bottom to
https://github.com/gruns/icecream#icecream-in-other-language...
In Show HN: Wat – Deep inspection of Python objectsHey, very useful. Thanks! Similar to ic() for python, but with the nice ability to be used inline.
https://github.com/gruns/icecream
In Show HN: dbg.h: C macro for quick and dirty print debugging> @stacktrace/@traceable Somewhat more useful but, again, the logging module usually does this. Also, debuggers exist.
While logging is good for production code, the tracing helpers look very useful for developing or debugging. One of the first things I do when troubleshooting why something is failing (in tests, or when reproducing things locally where I can run things with a visible console) is to print out _what was passed in_, or what the mid-function state is, so that I don't have to constantly query them in the debugger. Many many lines that look like
print(f">>> foo: {foo}, bar: {bar}")
Being able to automate this in a more convenient way seems very useful. The icecream library [0] does this, probably in a more robust way, but I've never used it because I always forget about it.
0: https://github.com/gruns/icecream
In Useful Python decorators for data scientistsPlease read the comment below in the gentlest, friendliest tone possible, because my goal is to considerately inform and persuade you, dear writer :)
HTML links make it 10-100x more likely other readers will learn about the thing being mentioned (and thus help increase awareness and adoption of good tools and resources).
https://github.com/gruns/icecream
Example:
from icecream import ic
def foo(i):
return i + 333
ic(foo(123))
Prints
ic| foo(123): 456
In A trick to have arbitrary infix operators in PythonI recently wrote a port of the python IceCream project[https://github.com/gruns/icecream].
Feel free to check it out for easier IO.inspect ergonomics:
https://github.com/joseph-lozano/ice_cream
In Three Ways to Debug Code in ElixirFor print debugging in Python I recently discovered a nice little time-saver: the icecream package. Rather than having to type "print( "x: ", x )", you can instead type type "ic(x)".
[1] https://github.com/gruns/icecream
In The unreasonable effectiveness of print debuggingIt seems like it was a coincidence. See comment thread:
https://github.com/gruns/icecream/commit/ee849b840eb34242aa2...
In Icecream: Never use print() to debug again in PythonIcecream: Never use print() to debug again in Python
485 points · Open discussionI use icecream [1] for the same purpose while debugging. It's really handy.
[1] https://github.com/gruns/icecream
In Implementing Rust's dbg! in PythonI've also never used a debugger. Python libraries like icecream (https://github.com/gruns/icecream) make print debugging pretty nice. I wonder if I'm missing out, though. I use VS Code a lot, and have been intending to see if I can fit its debugger into my workflow.
In Ask HN: Do senior engineers have a mental model before coding?Icecream – A little debugging library
77 points · Open discussionI never got comfortable with debuggers for the work that I do. Thus I rely heavily on "print debugging". There are tools such as "icecream" [0] (in Python), that improve print-debugging ergonomics a lot. I wish every language had something like "icecream" built-in.
[0]: https://github.com/gruns/icecream
In I do not use a debugger (2016)Again, Ram - it's a really nice project. Good luck with it.
But just in case if you from print cult, you will like https://github.com/gruns/icecream
In PySnooper: Never use print for debugging againShowing the 15 most recent of 16 sources. Enable JavaScript to search and browse every indexed mention.