# In Praise of -dry-run

DevFeed: [In Praise of -dry-run](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/in-praise-of-dry-run-29067.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://henrikwarne.com/2026/01/31/in-praise-of-dry-run/>)

Author: Henrik Warne

Published: 2026-01-31T17:50:03Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Henrik Warne](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/henrik-warne.md>)

Topics: [Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/development.md>), [Testing](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/testing.md>), [Database](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/database.md>)

Tags: [command](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/command.md>), [configuration](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/configuration.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [dry-run](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/dry-run.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [reporting](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/reporting.md>), [run](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/run.md>), [testing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/testing.md>)

## AI overview

The author describes adding a --dry-run option to a reporting application that generates, archives, uploads, and validates reports. The option prints the planned steps without making changes, providing a quick sanity check and helping test report-generation logic safely.

## Source excerpt

For the last few months, I have been developing a new reporting application. Early on, I decided to add a -dry-run option to the run command. This turned out to be quite useful - I have used it many times ... Continue reading ->