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Step through the program

Step through the program

Last modified: 05 October 2023

Stepping is the process of controlling step-by-step execution of the program.

WebStorm provides a set of stepping actions, which are used depending on your strategy (for example, whether you need to go directly to the next line or enter the methods invoked on your way there).

The stepping buttons are located on the Debug window toolbar.

Step over

Steps over the current line of code and takes you to the next line even if the highlighted line has method calls in it. The implementation of the methods is skipped, and you move straight to the next line of the caller method.

Click the Step Over button or press F8.

In the example, line 11 is about to be executed. If you step over, the debugger will move straight to line 12 without jumping into the multiplication() method.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_step_over_example_1.png

If there are breakpoints inside the skipped methods, the debugger will stop at them.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_step_over_example_2.png

To skip any breakpoints on the way, use Force step over AltShiftF8.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_step_over_force_step_over.png

Step into

Steps inside the code of a called function.

Click the Step Into button or press F7.

In the example, line 11 is about to be executed. If you step into, the debugger will jump into the implementation of the multiplication() method allowing you to examine in detail how its result is produced.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_step_into.png

If there are several method calls on the line, WebStorm asks you which method to enter. This feature is called Smart step into.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_step_into_smart.png

By default, Smart step into is used automatically every time you invoke Step into F7 on a line with multiple method calls. You can turn off automatic Smart step into and enter each called method in the order they are called using the Step into and Step out buttons.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_step_into_smart_off.png

Some scripts are skipped by Step into as you normally might not need to debug them.

Suppress stepping into scripts

In the Settings dialog (CtrlAlt0S), go to Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger | Stepping. The Debugger. Stepping page opens.
To suppress automatic Smart step into, clear the Always do smart step into checkbox.
To skip all library scripts, select the Do not step into library scripts checkbox. See example below.
To suppress stepping into some specific scripts, select the Do not step into scripts checkbox and create a list of such scripts using the toolbar buttons.

Smart step into

Smart step into is helpful when there are several method calls on a line, and you want to be specific about which method to enter. This feature allows you to select the method call you are interested in.

By default, Smart step into is used automatically every time you invoke Step into on a line with multiple method calls.
To suppress automatic Smart step into, open the Settings dialog (CtrlAlt0S), go to Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger | Stepping, and clear the Always do smart step into checkbox.
After that, the appears on the toolbar of the Debug tool window. The icon is only available when the debugger stops at a line with multiple calls.
To invoke Smart step into manually, click the on the toolbar of the Debug tool window, or press ShiftF7, or select Run | Debugging Actions | Smart Step Into from the main menu.

Step out

Steps out of the current method and takes you to its call.

Click the Step Out button or press ShiftF8.

In the example, stepping out skips all iterations of the loop and takes you straight to its call.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_step_out.png

Run to cursor

Continues the execution until the position of the caret is reached.

Place the caret at the line where you want the program to pause and click or press AltF9.
Gif
Click the line number in the gutter.
Run to Cursor on clicking the line number is active by default. To turn it off, open the Settings dialog (CtrlAlt0S), go to Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger, and clear the Click line number to perform run to cursor checkbox.

In the example, Run to cursor will continue the execution and stop at line 23 as if there were a breakpoint.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_run_to_cursor_line_number.png

If there are breakpoints in the print_chart() method, the program will be suspended there.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_run_to_cursor_line_number_breakpoint_in_skipped_code.png

To skip any breakpoints on the way, use Force run to cursor.

Force step into

Steps in the method even if this method is skipped by the regular Step Into.

Go to Run | Debugging Actions | Force Step Into.
Press AltShiftF7.
Click the Force Step Into button .
warning
The button is only available in the new UI.
To add the Force Step Into button to the toolbar:
1. Right-click the toolbar of the Debug tool window and select Customize toolbar from the context menu.
2. In the Customize Debug Tool Window Top Toolbar dialog, click and select Add Action.
3. In the Add Action dialog, start typing Force Step Into in the search field. WebStorm finds and highlights the Force Step Into action.
4. Click OK to return to the Customize Debug Tool Window Top Toolbar dialog, where the action is added to the list. Click Apply.

In the example, the debugger skips a library method console.log() with regular Step into at line 4 but enters this method at line 10 with Force step into.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_force_step_into.png

Force run to cursor

Continues the execution until the position of the caret is reached. All breakpoints on the way are ignored.

Place the caret at the line where you want the program to pause.
Select Force Run to Cursor from the menu or press CtrlAltF9.

In the example, Force run to cursor will continue the execution and stop at line 24 as if there were a breakpoint. The breakpoint inside print_chart() will not have any effect.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_force_run_to_cursor.png

Force step over

Steps over a line with a call of a method where breakpoints are set. The breakpoints are ignored.

Select Force Step Over from the menu or press AltShiftF8.

In the example, force stepping over takes you to the print statement on line 24 even though there is a breakpoint in the print_chart() method, which would otherwise, with Step over, suspend the application in all iterations of the loop.

https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2023.2/ws_debug_force_step_over.png

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Step through the program﻿

Step over﻿

Step into﻿

Suppress stepping into scripts﻿

Smart step into﻿

Step out﻿

Run to cursor﻿

Force step into﻿

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Force run to cursor﻿

Force step over﻿