[Catalyst] Should CATALYST_DEBUG suppress manual calls to $c->log->debug()?

[Jonathan Swartz]

On Aug 25, 2007, at 3:17 PM, Matt S Trout wrote:

> On Fri, Aug 24, 2007 at 10:15:37PM +0100, Will Hawes wrote:
>> I've been trying unsuccessfully to disable all debug messages  
>> while running
>> tests on my app with prove. Setting CATALYST_DEBUG=0 eliminates  
>> all the test
>> server debug output such as the list of loaded actions, but i am  
>> still
>> seeing the output of every call made to $c->log->debug by my  
>> controller
>> code.
>>
>> As far as I can see the docs regarding CATALYST_DEBUG=0 don't make  
>> any
>> distinction about where debug messages originate, only that they are
>> suppressed, which presumably means I shouldn't be seeing any debug  
>> output at
>> all.
>>
>> Is my mistake in misunderstanding how $c->log->debug() is supposed  
>> to work?
>
> Yes.
>
> That logs a message of level 'debug'.
>
> The internal Catalyst debugging aid stuff checks $c->debug and if  
> so logs
> messages with the debug level. But that doesn't mean turning off  
> the internal
> debugging changes the configuration of your logger whatsoever.
>

But what's the point of using $c->debug to gate debug messages when  
you could just check $log->is_debug? It is confusing to have some  
debug log messages in the system gated on $c->debug, and others just  
on $log->is_debug.

The advantage of $log->is_debug is that some logging systems (e.g.  
Log4perl) will allow you to switch debugging on and off at runtime,  
without a server restart, even in production.

Jonathan suggests that it might be for performance, but method calls  
like $c->debug cannot be optimized away at compile time. And in any  
case, the performance gains would be pretty small potatoes.

Jon