util: change util.inspect depth default

The current default is not ideal in most use cases. Therefore it is
changed to inspect objects to a maximum depth of 20 in case
util.inspect is called with it's defaults. The default is kept at 2
when using console.log() and similar in the repl.

PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/17907
Refs: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/12693

PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/22846
Reviewed-By: Matteo Collina <matteo.collina@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <jasnell@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Denys Otrishko <shishugi@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Roman Reiss <me@silverwind.io>

1 files changed, 19 insertions, 5 deletions

diff --git a/doc/api/util.md b/doc/api/util.md
index 29ba65b760..00604813c3 100644
--- a/doc/api/util.md
+++ b/doc/api/util.md
@@ -361,6 +361,9 @@ stream.write('With ES6');
 added: v0.3.0
 changes:
   - version: REPLACEME
+    pr-url: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/22846
+    description: The `depth` default changed to `20`.
+  - version: REPLACEME
     pr-url: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/22788
     description: The `sorted` option is supported now.
   - version: REPLACEME
@@ -401,7 +404,7 @@ changes:
   * `depth` {number} Specifies the number of times to recurse while formatting
     the `object`. This is useful for inspecting large complicated objects. To
     make it recurse up to the maximum call stack size pass `Infinity` or `null`.
-    **Default:** `2`.
+    **Default:** `20`.
   * `colors` {boolean} If `true`, the output will be styled with ANSI color
     codes. Colors are customizable, see [Customizing `util.inspect` colors][].
     **Default:** `false`.
@@ -458,12 +461,23 @@ util.inspect(new Bar()); // 'Bar {}'
 util.inspect(baz);       // '[foo] {}'
 ```
 
-The following example inspects all properties of the `util` object:
+The following example limits the inspected output of the `paths` property:
 
 ```js
 const util = require('util');
 
-console.log(util.inspect(util, { showHidden: true, depth: null }));
+console.log(util.inspect(module, { depth: 0 }));
+// Instead of showing all entries in `paths` `[Array]` is used to limit the
+// output for readability:
+
+// Module {
+//   id: '<repl>',
+//   exports: {},
+//   parent: undefined,
+//   filename: null,
+//   loaded: false,
+//   children: [],
+//   paths: [Array] }
 ```
 
 The following example highlights the difference with the `compact` option:
@@ -479,7 +493,7 @@ const o = {
     'foo']], 4],
   b: new Map([['za', 1], ['zb', 'test']])
 };
-console.log(util.inspect(o, { compact: true, depth: 5, breakLength: 80 }));
+console.log(util.inspect(o, { compact: true, breakLength: 80 }));
 
 // This will print
 
@@ -493,7 +507,7 @@ console.log(util.inspect(o, { compact: true, depth: 5, breakLength: 80 }));
 //   b: Map { 'za' => 1, 'zb' => 'test' } }
 
 // Setting `compact` to false changes the output to be more reader friendly.
-console.log(util.inspect(o, { compact: false, depth: 5, breakLength: 80 }));
+console.log(util.inspect(o, { compact: false, breakLength: 80 }));
 
 // {
 //   a: [