[Cuis-dev] Allow debugger to step into quick return methods

[Hernán Wilkinson]

Hi Facu,
 there is an error with this change. I do not know exactly what it is, but
you can reproduce it by filing in the attached file and debugging
importCustomers from Customer class (it is a class method). The error
happens when doing step over in [ line notNil ] whileTrue: ...

On Tue, Nov 14, 2023 at 8:07 AM Hernán Wilkinson <
hernan.wilkinson at 10pines.com> wrote:

> This is so great!! It is a really important feature when doing TDD and the
> first implementation of a method is a ^true or similar.
> The only concern I have is the change in Process>>#resume, because that
> impacts all the situations where #resume is sent... I know the impact is
> low, but is it possible to restrict that change to the debugger only or not?
>
> Cheers!
> Hernan.
>
> On Mon, Nov 13, 2023 at 8:28 PM Facundo Javier Gelatti via Cuis-dev <
> cuis-dev at lists.cuis.st> wrote:
>
>> Hi!
>> I attach some code to be able to step into quick return methods from the
>> debugger, and there's also a demo video
>> <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Iv5-hJ4TNjmR0pG-qm02KpTxCvKzsDZC/view?usp=sharing>.
>> Being able to step into a quick return method is very useful, especially in
>> situations where we are doing TDD (because the first implementation of a
>> method probably ends up being a quick return).
>>
>> Most of these changes were developed during the Camp Smalltalk event of
>> the Smalltalks 2023 conference by me, Juan Vuletich and Felipe Zak (thank
>> you guys!).
>>
>> I included automated tests for various debugging scenarios. The class
>> QuickReturnDebuggingTest should probably be moved to an appropriate
>> category (it's currently in the "Smalltalks 2023" category, just because
>> the changes were developed during the conference) or be merged into another
>> existing test class (I wasn't sure where to put it).
>>
>> ℹ️ Extra interesting info: there are other places in which we're
>> currently treating quick return methods in a special way. See for example
>> Debugger>>#contents:notifying:, which handles the special case of a
>> normal method becoming a quick return method after saving the changes on
>> the debugger (the stack frame is removed in that case, try it!). As a
>> curiosity, another quirk related to quick returns is that you cannot debug
>> an expression that will compile to a quick return (e.g. ^2), the
>> debugger simply doesn't show up! None of this is modified on the code I'm
>> submitting.
>>
>> I include a summary of the changes below, that could be useful during
>> code review 👇
>>
>> Cheers!
>> Facu
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> 📝 Changes summary:
>>
>>    - Do not run a quick return as a primitive in
>>    ContextPart>>#send:to:with:lookupIn:, treat it as a normal
>>    instruction —before which we can stop— and create a new stack frame for it.
>>    - Refactor: extracted an isPrimitive variable in
>>    ContextPart>>#send:to:with:lookupIn:, to avoid having repeated code.
>>    - Changed InstructionStream>>#willReturn to include quick returns
>>    there. This ends up telling the debugger that it's possible to pause the
>>    execution there.
>>    - In Process>>#resume, resolve pending quick returns before running
>>    #primitiveResume, so that the VM can resume the process without
>>    having an unexpected stack frame (if you remove this, the VM crashes).
>>    - Refactor: extracted the method Debugger class>>#newDebugging:,
>>    which is useful for tests (because it does not open the debugger UI).
>>
>> --
>> Cuis-dev mailing list
>> Cuis-dev at lists.cuis.st
>> https://lists.cuis.st/mailman/listinfo/cuis-dev
>>
>
>
> --
>
> *Hernán WilkinsonAgile Software Development, Teaching & Coaching*
> *Phone: +54-011*-4893-2057
> *Twitter: @HernanWilkinson*
> *site: http://www.10Pines.com <http://www.10pines.com/>*
> Address: Alem 896, Floor 6, Buenos Aires, Argentina
>


-- 

*Hernán WilkinsonAgile Software Development, Teaching & Coaching*
*Phone: +54-011*-4893-2057
*Twitter: @HernanWilkinson*
*site: http://www.10Pines.com <http://www.10pines.com/>*
Address: Alem 896, Floor 6, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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