tap(value, function, *args, **kwargs)

Apply a function to a deep copy of a value and return the original value.

The function is called for its side effect.
A deep copy of value is passed to the function, so modifications made by the function do not affect the original value.

The return value of function is ignored.
This makes tap useful for inspecting, logging, debugging, or otherwise processing a value without interrupting a chain of operations.

Args:
value: Value to pass to function and return unchanged.
function: Callable to invoke with a deep copy of value.
args: Additional positional arguments passed to function.
kwargs: Additional keyword arguments passed to function.

Returns:
The original value object.

Raises:
TypeError: If function is not callable.
Any exception raised by copy.deepcopy or function is propagated to the caller.

Example:

data = {"items": [1, 2, 3]}
tap(data, print)
# {'items': [1, 2, 3]}

A function can modify its argument without modifying the original:

def inspect(data):
    data["items"].append(4)

original = {"items": [1, 2, 3]}

result = tap(original, inspect)

result is original  # True

original
# {'items': [1, 2, 3]}