Intuitive Debugger [Full Release]

Updates Announcements
, ,
#1

Hey Developers!

We are excited to announce the full release of the Intuitive Debugger!

Since the launch of the beta in May, the Studio team has been listening to your feedback and working hard to make improvements and intuitively debug issues. Watch the video to see how the new debugger works or go to Documentation site for a step-by-step guide.

Here are the new improvements we’re excited to deliver to you:

Full Plugin Debugging Support

You can now use breakpoints to debug local plugins to make plugin creation easier!

Script Editor Mouseover Integration

Developers can now use a tree view tooltip to view the full contents of a lua variable on mouseover during a debugging session.

image Script Editor Mouseover

UI/UX Improvements

We have added some UX improvements such as the ability to expand a row in a Debugger UI window by double-clicking on the edge of a header boundary to expand a specific column for easier viewing of large entries. Furthermore, we allow you to save and restore expressions in the My Watch window between Studio sessions.

Performance Improvements

Improved loading time for individual debugged threads so that you are able to view and debug a large number of threads at once with far less slowdown

Responses to User Feedback

The team has been hard at work implementing your feedback regarding desired features. For example, developers now have the ability to remove breakpoints using the middle mouse click! Many bugs have also been resolved since the launch of the beta.

Release Plan

Today, we are launching Intuitive Debugger as a default-on Beta for a small cohort of the Studio user base. Over the next few weeks, we will progressively ramp up to 100%. If you’ve opted into the beta before today, this process will not affect you. In the meantime, we will closely monitor crashes and errors. If any significant issues are uncovered, we will roll the feature back to opt-in Beta.

It has been a multi-quarter journey for the team to make this happen. Shout out to @IcyTides, @altisaltaccount, @Regal_Corgi, @swish741, @windy0724, @ResetVector, @ameowth07, @iriszh, @wengawenga @mugiwarasuuper @HugoBLH, @MoonRocketApollo, @idevride, @MetalMax2 @Infomancer for making this happen!

Happy debugging!

188 Likes
#2

This topic was automatically opened after 10 minutes.

#3

This will definitely help stop me from spamming print("???") when I need to debug :joy: Thank you!

32 Likes
#4

defenetely a very nice update, and now we wont need to have a bunch of print()'s in our scipts.

2 Likes
#5

I will still be printing though :sob::sob::sob:

21 Likes
#6

This is cool but, improving a singular debugger only really affects people who are new Roblox or people who are unwilling to use better tools. Correct me if I am wrong but, very few experienced developer use this and it would be really cool, borderline godsend if these APIs were able to interact with third-party tools (VSCode, etc). I could just mirror it but, seeing that third-party support from y’all directly would be great.

9 Likes
#7

Amazing update, i kinda suck and just code blinded so i always end up debugging, this will be amazing for sure!

1 Like
#8

I quite like the update. Completely irrelevent but my name was used in the table example LOL:

image
image694×274 47.5 KB

8 Likes
#9

We can see how hard the ROBLOX team is working to make it easier to make games, and plugins. Thanks for the update!

2 Likes
#10

100% :rofl::grin: i always end up forgetting to remove them too.

3 Likes
#11

Combine with with the Better Breakpoints feature and you have essentially Visual Studio’s debugger. Thank you Roblox, this fails to disappoint. Keep pushing updates like this; errors are always a pain for everyone (unless you’re using error()) and the more tools we have to deal with them, the better.

1 Like
#12

I’m excited about all the work that’s being done with the debugger.

  • Performance is still very noticeably slower than the original debugger.
  • Holding the Step Into key crashes Studio.
  • You should be able to expand table and object keys in tables, such as in the tree view. They’re very commonly used.
  • Plugins should have permission to use the debugger API.
  • Table keys should be sorted during inspection.
4 Likes
#13

woah! i cant wait to never use this and continue to print my variables like any normal person would

2 Likes
#14

Full Plugin Debugging Support, Script Editor Mouseover Integration, UI/UX Improvements, Performance Improvements, Responses to User Feedback, Release Plan…

As always, we need it all of this and more :slight_smile: A little less printing

#15

oh my god finally I don’t have to tear my hair out over trying to debug things in studio with prints
shoutout to “Log Mode” in the output menu for being the cause of 90% of developer stress.

1 Like
#16

In my opinion this is one of the greatest updates this year, thank you so much for this debug feature!

3 Likes
#17

Thank you Roblox for all your hard work in this update it’ll save a ton of time and energy for many

1 Like
#18

:partying_face: Woohoo! Now we don’t have to use print() to attempt to debug our code! Thanks a bunch.

#19

Love how it looks, not a fan of the scrolling. Always overshoots like crazy. Generally seems to not look/act great when I have it in the small widget I usually put it in.

1 Like
#20

RobloxStudioBeta_2022-10-13T02-09-34
Any chance it can be smarter about hovering? When I hover over clips here, it should treat it as if I’m looking at video.clips.

2 Likes