diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/QueryExecution.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/QueryExecution.scala
index 34998cbd61552..6272e612573c6 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/QueryExecution.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/QueryExecution.scala
@@ -245,5 +245,14 @@ class QueryExecution(val sparkSession: SparkSession, val logical: LogicalPlan) {
       println(org.apache.spark.sql.execution.debug.codegenString(executedPlan))
       // scalastyle:on println
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Get WholeStageCodegenExec subtrees and the codegen in a query plan
+     *
+     * @return Sequence of WholeStageCodegen subtrees and corresponding codegen
+     */
+    def codegenToSeq(): Seq[(String, String)] = {
+      org.apache.spark.sql.execution.debug.codegenStringSeq(executedPlan)
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/package.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/package.scala
index 0395c43ba2cbc..a717cbd4a7df9 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/package.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/package.scala
@@ -50,7 +50,31 @@ package object debug {
     // scalastyle:on println
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Get WholeStageCodegenExec subtrees and the codegen in a query plan into one String
+   *
+   * @param plan the query plan for codegen
+   * @return single String containing all WholeStageCodegen subtrees and corresponding codegen
+   */
   def codegenString(plan: SparkPlan): String = {
+    val codegenSeq = codegenStringSeq(plan)
+    var output = s"Found ${codegenSeq.size} WholeStageCodegen subtrees.\n"
+    for (((subtree, code), i) <- codegenSeq.zipWithIndex) {
+      output += s"== Subtree ${i + 1} / ${codegenSeq.size} ==\n"
+      output += subtree
+      output += "\nGenerated code:\n"
+      output += s"${code}\n"
+    }
+    output
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get WholeStageCodegenExec subtrees and the codegen in a query plan
+   *
+   * @param plan the query plan for codegen
+   * @return Sequence of WholeStageCodegen subtrees and corresponding codegen
+   */
+  def codegenStringSeq(plan: SparkPlan): Seq[(String, String)] = {
     val codegenSubtrees = new collection.mutable.HashSet[WholeStageCodegenExec]()
     plan transform {
       case s: WholeStageCodegenExec =>
@@ -58,15 +82,10 @@ package object debug {
         s
       case s => s
     }
-    var output = s"Found ${codegenSubtrees.size} WholeStageCodegen subtrees.\n"
-    for ((s, i) <- codegenSubtrees.toSeq.zipWithIndex) {
-      output += s"== Subtree ${i + 1} / ${codegenSubtrees.size} ==\n"
-      output += s
-      output += "\nGenerated code:\n"
-      val (_, source) = s.doCodeGen()
-      output += s"${CodeFormatter.format(source)}\n"
+    codegenSubtrees.toSeq.map { subtree =>
+      val (_, source) = subtree.doCodeGen()
+      (subtree.toString, CodeFormatter.format(source))
     }
-    output
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/DebuggingSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/DebuggingSuite.scala
index 4fc52c99fbeeb..adcaf2d76519f 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/DebuggingSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/DebuggingSuite.scala
@@ -38,4 +38,11 @@ class DebuggingSuite extends SparkFunSuite with SharedSQLContext {
     assert(res.contains("Subtree 2 / 2"))
     assert(res.contains("Object[]"))
   }
+
+  test("debugCodegenStringSeq") {
+    val res = codegenStringSeq(spark.range(10).groupBy("id").count().queryExecution.executedPlan)
+    assert(res.length == 2)
+    assert(res.forall{ case (subtree, code) =>
+      subtree.contains("Range") && code.contains("Object[]")})
+  }
 }