Alternatives

Products that do what dump_r() - print_r() and var_dump() alternative does

I wrote this because print_r() and var_dump() collectively suck and after trying countless alternatives couldn't find exactly what I envisioned. demo: http://o-0.me/dump_r/ repo: https://github.com/leeoniya/dump_r.php All styling can be tweaked through the embedded stylesheet, nothing is inline. Feedback, issues and css themes welcome.

1. 1AS
   A syntax highlighter for Git and diff output, written in Rust▲261

   2020 · github.com

2. 2RP
   Replace printf() with cool generic print, almost like Python/JS▲96

   2021 · github.com

3. 3
   Pretty Printf▲144

   Code snippets, pretty printed on posters

   2015

4. 4
   Drift▲144

   An open-source Gist and pastebin alternative

   2022

5. 5GC
   GitPrint.com – A site to easily print Markdown files on GitHub▲68

   2014 · gitprint.com

6. 6AL
   ASCII line chart with console, HTML and image outputs, written in PHP▲74

   2018 · github.com

7. 7NL
   Notational `ls` - Never get lost in code again (hour long hack)▲29

   Hey folks, I just wanted to share a quick script I threw together called notational ls. One of the big problems of any code base (or any filesystem) is that it's hard to tell what's what - folder and file names often trade brevity for clarity. So I thought about a version of `ls` that works like this: > nls web: Where python web server files are stored ad_hoc: One time scripts ios: Our IOS code images Adding descriptions is really easy too: > nls images Images SHARED between both ios and web web: Where python web server files are stored ad_hoc: One time scripts ios: Our IOS code…

   2011

8. 8FP
   Fabulous: Print images in terminal with Python▲19

   2016 · jart.github.io

9. 9RP
   resolving part of Linus Torvald's problem with github - text wrapping▲7

   2013 · github.com

10. 10IM
    I made a Python transpiler for creating executable ASCII art▲6

    2024 · github.com

11. 11SH
    Simple-HTML – type-safe, template-less HTML rendering for Python▲6

    2022 · pypi.org

12. 12AT
    ASCII-themes, a Node.js CLI interface to generate themed ASCII art▲9

    2019 · dev.to

13. 13TS
    To_Shout – A Bare-Metal Output Library with Zero Dependencies▲5

    I've built To_Shout, a lightweight output library for bare-metal environments that requires no standard library, no OS dependencies, and no headers. It's designed for kernel development, embedded systems, and anyone working close to the metal. Key features: · Type-aware output using C11 _Generic · Supports integers, floats, strings, hex, and binary formats · VGA text mode implementation included · Color output support · Less than 300 lines of code · LGPL 3.0 licensed GitHub: https://github.com/Ferki-git-creator/to_shout

    Sep 2025

14. 14PP
    Pretty print invalid JSON (or anything that looks sort of like JSON)▲9

    2021 · prettyprintplease.com

15. 15SP
    srctree = pastebin + git + canvas▲10

    Hello HN. This is my first webapp. It works like a pastebin, in which you can visually keep track of the changes you and others make to it. I was a little reluctant about posting it here because I'm not sure it meets the HN quality standards, but, as a beginner, I would really appreciate to have some feedback and/or tips. The url is: http://srctree.net/ An example of usage: http://srctree.net/1 Thanks!

    2012

16. 16BJ
    behold, jsonifier▲10

    Just a simple tool I hacked together last night. I wanted to paste a bunch of JSON for reference in an IRC channel, but the JSON that I wanted to paste was not formatted. I didn't quickly find a pastebin that formatted JSON for me so I just made one. It's probably so simple that it's borderline useless, but here it is! http://jsonifier.com/ example output: http://jsonifier.com/paste/4e3f84b46f3b792dde000000

    2011

17. 17PT
    Pastebin that can link to C/C++ symbols▲5

    https://paste.woboq.org/ZuoGr5wfLV.cpp Have fun using, it should be able to link to all symbols that are present on https://code.woboq.org Technically it's a fork of haste-server that does Ajax calls to the code.woboq.org API.

    2016

18. 18CS
    Colors.sh – Bash colored and formatted output made easy▲5

    2018 · colors.sh

19. 19HA
    HTBL – A stupid way to write back ends in HTML▲8

    2023 · github.com

20. 20IG
    I got tired of print(x.shape) so I built runtime type hints for Python▲7

    As a beginner learning to build ML models, I found it annoying to have to keep printing tensor shapes every other line, having to step through the debugger to check where did I mess up the shapes again. So I built Trickle, it takes the data that flows through your code, caches the types and display them inline (as if you have type annotations). The idea is: "Let types trickle from runtime into your IDE". You get types in Python without having the write them manually. It works by rewriting your Python AST at import time — after every variable assignment, it inserts a lightweight call that…

    Mar 2026 · github.com

21. 21SP
    Simple Python struct format-string explainer▲7

    Hi everyone! As a side project I made a tiny static website that helps explain format strings used with Python's `struct` module. Type/paste in a format string and you get a quick explanation of the structure instead of having to look through the docs. It's open source, happy to hear any suggestions how to make it more useful.

    2022 · pythonstruct.com

22. 22DC
    De-clutter your VS Code experience▲5

    I built this tool a couple days ago to temporarily hide your prints & comments. I wanted to focus on the core logic without having to constantly delete/add prints and comments. Lmk if you like it ;)

    2024 · marketplace.visualstudio.com

23. 23PI
    Poem in GitHub commits (w/ code and viz)▲5

    2014 · github.com

24. 24AG
    A GitHub integration for Python code style▲7

    2017 · pep8speaks.com

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