Xdebug with PHP is a lifesaver

Obscerno@lemm.ee to Programming@programming.dev – 25 points –

I have no idea how I managed to program in PHP for years without Xdebug. Now when an error occurs, it just pops up in my IDE, and I can set breakpoints and see ALL of the local variables including the ones set in the higher up scripts. It makes debugging sooooo much easier.

I feel kind of silly for not assuming a tool like this existed and hunting for it. I'll never write a var_debug() again. I wonder what other absolutely vital tools are out there that I'm just completely oblivious to.

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Lol, I have my favorite file_put_contents line for debugging php, but being able to step through code would be great. What's your setup? Last time I tried I couldn't get xdebug working on win server + apache.

I'm on Ubuntu, but from what I remember to get it working in my local environment I just:

  • Installed the module.
  • Added the following to the php.ini file:
    [xdebug]
    zend_extension=xdebug
    xdebug.mode = debug
    xdebug.start_with_request = yes
  • Restarted the apache server.
  • Installed the PHP Debug extension for Visual Studio Code.

And now I just hit F5 and select "Listen for Xdebug" and I'm ready to go.

You just saved thousands of php developers' lives