What is Data::Dumper vs Data::Printer in Perl?

In Perl, both Data::Dumper and Data::Printer are modules used for debugging and displaying data structures, but they have different features and use cases.

Data::Dumper: This module provides a simple way to serialize data structures into a string representation that can be evaluated later. It's widely used for debugging because it generates output that closely resembles Perl code.

Data::Printer: In contrast, Data::Printer focuses on providing a more human-readable output. It formats the data in a visually appealing way, making it easier to understand complex structures at a glance.

Here is a simple example comparing both modules:

# Using Data::Dumper use Data::Dumper; my $data = { name => "Alice", age => 30, pets => ["Dog", "Cat"] }; print Dumper($data); # Using Data::Printer use Data::Printer; p($data);

Data::Dumper Data::Printer Perl debugging data structures serialization