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3. **Variable Inspection:** Thonny’s debugger lets you inspect the values of variables at different points in your code. This is incredibly useful for tracking down bugs and understanding how your program’s data changes during execution.

Variable inspection is indeed a valuable feature offered by many integrated development environments (IDEs) and debugging tools, including Thonny. When you’re debugging a program, you often need to understand how the values of variables change as your code executes. Variable inspection allows you to do just that by providing you with the ability to:

  1. View Variable Values: You can see the current values of variables at different points in your code while it’s running. This helps you understand what data your program is working with at any given moment.
  2. Track Variable Changes: You can track how the values of variables change as your code progresses. This is essential for identifying when and where a variable’s value is modified, which can be crucial for debugging.
  3. Identify Bugs: By inspecting variables, you can pinpoint the root causes of bugs and unexpected behavior in your code. If a variable doesn’t have the expected value, you can investigate why it deviated from your expectations.
  4. Understand Program Flow: Variable inspection provides insights into how your program’s data flows and interacts with different parts of your code. This can help you gain a deeper understanding of your program’s behavior.
  5. Efficient Debugging: It makes the debugging process more efficient because you can narrow down the scope of your investigation. Instead of blindly guessing where a problem might be, you can focus on specific variables and code segments.

Here’s how you typically use variable inspection in Thonny’s debugger (or similar debugging tools):

  1. Set Breakpoints: Place breakpoints in your code at the points where you want to inspect variables. When the debugger reaches a breakpoint, it pauses execution.
  2. Start Debugging: Run your program in debug mode (usually by clicking a “Debug” button or equivalent). This allows you to step through your code one line at a time.
  3. Inspect Variables: While debugging, you can open a variable inspector panel or hover over variables in your code to see their current values. Some debuggers also allow you to add specific variables to a watchlist for easier monitoring.
  4. Step Through Code: Use debugging controls (step into, step over, continue, etc.) to advance through your code. As you do, keep an eye on the variable values to ensure they are behaving as expected.
  5. Analyze and Debug: If you notice any unexpected behavior or values, you can investigate further, make changes, and continue debugging until you identify and fix the issue.

In summary, variable inspection is a powerful tool for debugging and understanding your code’s behavior. It can save you a significant amount of time and frustration when dealing with complex programs or tracking down elusive bugs.

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