We went to http://www.pythontutor.com/visualize.html#mode=edit and looked at
def f(x, y, counter):
z = x + y
y = 2 * x
print("x is ", x)
if counter < 7:
answer = f(y, z, counter+1)
return counter
alpha = f(1, 2, 3)
print("alpha is ", alpha)
Compared with pry in ruby, which has no single step.