This may or may not be helpful, but it sounds like you might have a use for guard which is unfortunately quite obtuse to set up, but once it's running, it will automatically perform arbitrary tasks each time the file changes. If I plan to debug something, I tend to go build a Guardfile that runs that something every time I change it. Now the steps are:

1. Cmd-S to save.
2. Lazily cast eyes over the other half of my screen to see results.