ShowCallStack

Shows a simplified view of the call stack.

This module is similar to Python's built-in traceback and inspect modules, but is easier to use and displays more simple output. This module is useful for demonstrating what the call stack looks like during recursive function calls. Simply add a from showcallstack import showCallStack line and then call showCallStack() from wherever you wish to see the state of the call stack and the local variables in each call frame.

Example Usage

This program...

from showcallstack import showcallstack

def a():
    varA = 42
    b()

def b():
    varB = 86
    c()

def c():
    varC = 99
    showcallstack()

spam = 'SPAM!
a()

...outputs this:

The call stack is 3 call(s) deep:
(Here is the "bottom" of the call stack.)
Local variables of call to a():
  varA (type: int) == 42
Local variables of call to b():
  varB (type: int) == 86
Local variables of call to c():
  varC (type: int) == 99
(Here is the "top" of the call stack.)

Global variables:
  spam (type: str) == 'SPAM!'

This recursive factorial program...

from showcallstack import showcallstack

def factorial(num):
    showcallstack()
    if num == 1:
        return 1
    else:
        return num * factorial(num - 1)

factorial(4)

...outputs this:

The call stack is 1 call(s) deep:
(Here is the "bottom" of the call stack.)
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 4
(Here is the "top" of the call stack.)

Global variables:
  No global variables.

The call stack is 2 call(s) deep:
(Here is the "bottom" of the call stack.)
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 4
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 3
(Here is the "top" of the call stack.)

Global variables:
  No global variables.

The call stack is 3 call(s) deep:
(Here is the "bottom" of the call stack.)
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 4
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 3
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 2
(Here is the "top" of the call stack.)

Global variables:
  No global variables.

The call stack is 4 call(s) deep:
(Here is the "bottom" of the call stack.)
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 4
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 3
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 2
Local variables of call to factorial():
  num (type: int) == 1
(Here is the "top" of the call stack.)

Global variables:
  No global variables.

You can also call the showcallstack.getcallstack() function to get this output as a list of strings.

Support

If you find this project helpful and would like to support its development, consider donating to its creator on Patreon.