5 ms·

IronNode – Debug Node.js code with Chrome Developer Tools

44 points by saqu 11y ago

humbleMouse 11y ago
If this actually works this is going to be awesome!!
snarkyturtle 11y ago
How is this any different than: https://github.com/node-inspector/node-inspector https://github.com/node-inspector/node-inspector
- serve_yay 11y ago
  Good question, I can't tell. node-inspector's docs are much better too.
- faceyspacey 11y ago
  Node inspector has a lot of problems. Buggy as shit. And it's time consuming to use the -brk param to make ur app stop on the first line and then attach node inspector, and then switch back to having it not stop on line 1 when testing ongoing calls. That's why it is important what this guy built to automatically attach itself, even if all the other node inspector bugs still exist. It's particularly hard to find ur files in node inspector and with it refreshing ur always losing where u were, which is also a problem with chrome dev tools but to a lesser extent. I'm generally extremely surprised that node inspector is so shitty. Literally no node developers must debug server side code with a debugger. That's complete idiocy, ie resolving to just log calls throughout ur code. It's a statement of the lack of observability developers are willing to put up with because they know no better. I use node inspector constantly, but it's absolutely retarded how much bullshit I have to sift through. I have to reopen the files I'm working either every single time, drilling deep through file structures, if I don't already have a breakpoint on a file. It doesn't remember what files and folders were open.
  - troebr 11y ago
    Have you tried debugging with webstorm?
    - faceyspacey 11y ago
      I have. I use Meteor, and for Meteor it doesn't support debugging Package code, so that's a no-go for me. But I was impressed by what they were going for in the situations I did get it to work. A few things I miss from the chrome style debugging, but a few new things that were quite useful. In general, debugging for Node needs to be fixed and addressed from the ground-up. It's an afterthought for everyone, which is why we see things happening like chrome dev tools being repurposed. I mean that's not a bad idea, but when the implementation is so clearly a half-assed hack job, it's clear a more foundation-first approach must be done.
  - jstx 11y ago
    https://nodejs.org/api/debugger.html https://nodejs.org/api/debugger.html
- jkrems 11y ago
  It looks like it works by just reusing the devtools that are part of electron instead of shipping it's own (like node-inspector). That might make it more reliable than node-inspector for basic debugging. But that's only a guess after glancing over the code.
faceyspacey 11y ago
How can we make it work with meteor?
- pluma 11y ago
  1. Add more buzzwords and hype. 2. ??? 3. <del>Profit!</del> Investors!
josteink 11y ago
I thought the Iron* moniker was conventionally reserved for things running on .net (It Runs On Net), like IronPython, IronRuby, IronLisp, IronScheme, etc? Isn't using it for this project going to cause confusion?
- richmarr 11y ago
  I was going to make a snarky remark comparing it to the recent second usage of 'isomorphic' but, to be honest, people will figure it out. I'm putting all this stuff on my list of things not to waste blood pressure on.
  - josteink 11y ago
    I was honestly trying to be helpful, and was definitely not making a snide remark. Sure, people wondering if this is node running on .Net might click and discover they were wrong, and all is fine. But if his project from name alone is perceived as being related to .NET, he may not reach out to the full audience of web-developers he may be aiming for. And that's a net loss for him. If there's a time to reconsider the name, it's now before it gets bigger and more "known". I mean the repo only has around 10 commits at this point :)
    - richmarr 11y ago
      I didn't think you were being snide, nor did I intent to be. Really don't understand the downvoting behaviour around here.
    - pluma 11y ago
      Your concerns are justified. When I read "IronNode" I immediately thought of "IronPython" and "IronRuby". Had I just skimmed the headlines and not paid attention to the full title, I would have ignored it.
  - ripter 11y ago
    I don't think he was trying to be snarky. I thought the same thing when I first clicked on the link.
DiThi 11y ago
Incidentally I did something very similar with my private projects and I've been using it for the last weeks. It's basically Electron, with a few lines of code that runs the script you pass in the argument and opens Chrome's dev tools. It's awesome, and much, much better than node-inspector.
jondubois 11y ago
Can you set the debug port number or PID of the process you want to debug in case your program runs as a cluster of processes? I agree that node-inspector is tedious to set up and often doesn't work initially - It does have support for debugging clusters though.
13years 11y ago
Anyone know how this compares to Theseus? https://github.com/adobe-research/theseus https://github.com/adobe-research/theseus

44 points by saqu 11y ago

If this actually works this is going to be awesome!!

How is this any different than: https://github.com/node-inspector/node-inspector https://github.com/node-inspector/node-inspector

serve_yay 11y ago
Good question, I can't tell. node-inspector's docs are much better too.
faceyspacey 11y ago
Node inspector has a lot of problems. Buggy as shit. And it's time consuming to use the -brk param to make ur app stop on the first line and then attach node inspector, and then switch back to having it not stop on line 1 when testing ongoing calls. That's why it is important what this guy built to automatically attach itself, even if all the other node inspector bugs still exist. It's particularly hard to find ur files in node inspector and with it refreshing ur always losing where u were, which is also a problem with chrome dev tools but to a lesser extent. I'm generally extremely surprised that node inspector is so shitty. Literally no node developers must debug server side code with a debugger. That's complete idiocy, ie resolving to just log calls throughout ur code. It's a statement of the lack of observability developers are willing to put up with because they know no better. I use node inspector constantly, but it's absolutely retarded how much bullshit I have to sift through. I have to reopen the files I'm working either every single time, drilling deep through file structures, if I don't already have a breakpoint on a file. It doesn't remember what files and folders were open.
- troebr 11y ago
  Have you tried debugging with webstorm?
  - faceyspacey 11y ago
    I have. I use Meteor, and for Meteor it doesn't support debugging Package code, so that's a no-go for me. But I was impressed by what they were going for in the situations I did get it to work. A few things I miss from the chrome style debugging, but a few new things that were quite useful. In general, debugging for Node needs to be fixed and addressed from the ground-up. It's an afterthought for everyone, which is why we see things happening like chrome dev tools being repurposed. I mean that's not a bad idea, but when the implementation is so clearly a half-assed hack job, it's clear a more foundation-first approach must be done.
- jstx 11y ago
  https://nodejs.org/api/debugger.html https://nodejs.org/api/debugger.html
jkrems 11y ago
It looks like it works by just reusing the devtools that are part of electron instead of shipping it's own (like node-inspector). That might make it more reliable than node-inspector for basic debugging. But that's only a guess after glancing over the code.

faceyspacey 11y ago

How can we make it work with meteor?

pluma 11y ago
1. Add more buzzwords and hype. 2. ??? 3. <del>Profit!</del> Investors!

josteink 11y ago

I thought the Iron* moniker was conventionally reserved for things running on .net (It Runs On Net), like IronPython, IronRuby, IronLisp, IronScheme, etc? Isn't using it for this project going to cause confusion?

richmarr 11y ago
I was going to make a snarky remark comparing it to the recent second usage of 'isomorphic' but, to be honest, people will figure it out. I'm putting all this stuff on my list of things not to waste blood pressure on.
- josteink 11y ago
  I was honestly trying to be helpful, and was definitely not making a snide remark. Sure, people wondering if this is node running on .Net might click and discover they were wrong, and all is fine. But if his project from name alone is perceived as being related to .NET, he may not reach out to the full audience of web-developers he may be aiming for. And that's a net loss for him. If there's a time to reconsider the name, it's now before it gets bigger and more "known". I mean the repo only has around 10 commits at this point :)
  - richmarr 11y ago
    I didn't think you were being snide, nor did I intent to be. Really don't understand the downvoting behaviour around here.
  - pluma 11y ago
    Your concerns are justified. When I read "IronNode" I immediately thought of "IronPython" and "IronRuby". Had I just skimmed the headlines and not paid attention to the full title, I would have ignored it.
- ripter 11y ago
  I don't think he was trying to be snarky. I thought the same thing when I first clicked on the link.

DiThi 11y ago

Incidentally I did something very similar with my private projects and I've been using it for the last weeks. It's basically Electron, with a few lines of code that runs the script you pass in the argument and opens Chrome's dev tools. It's awesome, and much, much better than node-inspector.

jondubois 11y ago

Can you set the debug port number or PID of the process you want to debug in case your program runs as a cluster of processes? I agree that node-inspector is tedious to set up and often doesn't work initially - It does have support for debugging clusters though.

13years 11y ago

Anyone know how this compares to Theseus? https://github.com/adobe-research/theseus https://github.com/adobe-research/theseus