How do you debug PHP scripts? [closed]

Answer 1

Manual debugging is generally quicker for me - var_dump() and debug_print_backtrace() are all the tools you need to arm your logic with.

Answer 2

Try Eclipse PDT to setup an Eclipse environment that has debugging features like you mentioned. The ability to step into the code is a much better way to debug then the old method of var_dump and print at various points to see where your flow goes wrong. When all else fails though and all I have is SSH and vim I still var_dump()/die() to find where the code goes south.

Answer 3

print_r( debug_backtrace() );

or something like that :-)

Answer 4

Nusphere is also a good debugger for php nusphere

Answer 5

Depending on the issue I like a combination of error_reporting(E_ALL) mixed with echo tests (to find the offending line/file the error happened in initally; you KNOW it's not always the line/file php tells you right?), IDE brace matching (to resolve "Parse error: syntax error, unexpected $end" issues), and print_r(); exit; dumps (real programmers view the source ;p).

You also can't beat phpdebug (check sourceforge) with "memory_get_usage();" and "memory_get_peak_usage();" to find the problem areas.

Answer 6

Xdebug and the DBGp plugin for Notepad++ for heavy duty bug hunting, FirePHP for lightweight stuff. Quick and dirty? Nothing beats dBug.