ryboe / q

Quick and dirty debugging output for tired Go programmers

q

q is a better way to do print statement debugging.

Type q.Q instead of fmt.Printf and your variables will be printed like this:

Why is this better than fmt.Printf?

• Faster to type
• Pretty-printed vars and expressions
• Easier to see inside structs
• Doesn't go to noisy-ass stdout. It goes to $TMPDIR/q.
• Pretty colors!

Basic Usage

import "q"
...
q.Q(a, b, c)

For best results, dedicate a terminal to tailing $TMPDIR/q while you work.

Install

git clone https://github.com/ryboe/q "$(go env GOPATH)"/src/q

Put these functions in your shell config. Typing qq or rmqq will then start tailing $TMPDIR/q.

qq() {
    clear

    logpath="$TMPDIR/q"
    if [[ -z "$TMPDIR" ]]; then
        logpath="/tmp/q"
    fi

    if [[ ! -f "$logpath" ]]; then
        echo 'Q LOG' > "$logpath"
    fi

    tail -100f -- "$logpath"
}

rmqq() {
    logpath="$TMPDIR/q"
    if [[ -z "$TMPDIR" ]]; then
        logpath="/tmp/q"
    fi
    if [[ -f "$logpath" ]]; then
        rm "$logpath"
    fi
    qq
}

You also can simply tail -f $TMPDIR/q, but it's highly recommended to use the above commands.

Editor Integration

VS Code

Preferences > User Snippets > Go

"qq": {
    "prefix": "qq",
    "body": "q.Q($1) // DEBUG",
    "description": "Pretty-print to $TMPDIR/q"
}

Sublime Text

Tools > Developer > New Snippet

<snippet>
    <content><![CDATA[
q.Q($1) // DEBUG
]]></content>
    <tabTrigger>qq</tabTrigger>
    <scope>source.go</scope>
</snippet>

Atom

Atom > Open Your Snippets

'.source.go':
    'qq':
        'prefix': 'qq'
        'body': 'q.Q($1) // DEBUG'

JetBrains GoLand

Settings > Editor > Live Templates

In Go, add a new template with:

• Abbreviation: qq
• Description: Pretty-print to $TMPDIR/q
• Template text: q.Q($END$) // DEBUG
• Applicable in: select the Go scope

Emacs

Add a new snippet file to the go-mode snippets directory ($HOME/.emacs.d/snippets/go-mode/qq). This should contain:

# -*- mode: snippet -*-
# name: qq
# key: qq
# --
q.Q(${1:...}) // DEBUG

Vim/NeoVim

For SirVer/ultisnips, use :UltiSnipsEdit to add the new snippet:

snippet qq "qq"
q.Q(${1:})
${2}
endsnippet

Haven't I seen this somewhere before?

Python programmers will recognize this as a Golang port of the q module by zestyping.

Ping does a great job of explaining q in his awesome lightning talk from PyCon 2013. Watch it! It's funny :)

FAQ

Why q.Q?

It's quick to type and unlikely to cause naming collisions.

Is q.Q() safe for concurrent use?

Yes.