Stop using var_dump(); Embrace step debugging

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Stop using var_dump(); embrace step debugging 2

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Step debugging is stopping code execution on a speciﬁc line of code, then advancing the application 1 line of code at a time. 3

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{exp:channel:entries channel="foo" var_dump="yes" } {entry_id} {/exp:channel:entries} 4

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{exp:channel:entries channel="foo"} ={title}={entry_id}={some_custom_ﬁeld}= {/exp:channel:entries} 5

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{exp:channel:entries channel="foo"}

{entry_id}

{/exp:channel:entries} 6

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var_dump(); 7

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var_dump($entry); die; object(BoldMinded\Publisher\Service\Entry\Entry) private 'request' => object(BoldMinded\Publisher\Service\Request) private 'siteId' => int 1 private 'entryId' => null private 'defaultLanguage' => object(BoldMinded\Publisher\Model\Language) protected 'id' => int 1 protected 'short_name' => string 'en' (length=2) protected 'short_name_segment' => string 'en' (length=2) protected 'long_name' => string 'English' (length=7) protected 'locale' => string 'en_EN' (length=5) protected 'language_pack' => string 'english' (length=7) protected 'cat_url_indicator' => string 'category' (length=8) protected 'is_default' => string 'y' (length=1) protected 'is_enabled' => string 'y' (length=1) protected 'direction' => string 'ltr' (length=3) protected 'sites' => string '[1]' (length=3) protected '_name' => string 'publisher:Language' (length=18) 8

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Pros — Easy — No special tools necessary — Works anywhere 9

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Cons — Slow — Lacks context 10

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Alternative function writeToFile($fileName, $data) { $file = PATH_CACHE.$fileName.'.txt'; $stream = fopen($file, 'a+'); fwrite($stream, print_r($data, TRUE) ."\n"); fclose($stream); } 11

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Xdebug is a PHP extension which provides debugging and proﬁling capabilities. 12

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Installing and Conﬁguring apt-get install php-xdebug vim /etc/php/apache2/php.ini zend_extension=xdebug.so xdebug.remote_connect_back=1 xdebug.remote_autostart=0 xdebug.remote_enable=1 xdebug.show_exception_trace=1 15

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Tools — PhpStorm — SublimeText w/ plugin ¯\_(ϑ)_/¯ — Microsoft Code w/ plugin 17

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Navigating — Setting breakpoints 18

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Navigating — Conditional breakpoints 19

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Navigating — Stepping over 20

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Navigating — Stepping into 21

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Tools — https://www.jetbrains.com/phpstorm/marklets/ — Xdebug Helper in Chrome Store — ?XDEBUG_SESSION_START=PHPSTORM 26

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Demo Click Here! 29

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Useful breakpoint locations in EE — system/ee/legacy/libraries/Core.php function generate_page() — system/ee/EllisLab/Addons/channel/mod.channel.php function entries() — system/ee/legacy/libraries/Template.php function run_template_engine() 30

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Personal favorites — Call stack while debugging — Easier to debug loops — Can see EE template code at different parse states 31

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Remote step debugging zend_extension=xdebug.so xdebug.remote_connect_back=0 xdebug.remote_autostart=0 xdebug.remote_enable=1 33

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Demo 37

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Hark, there be dragons. 38

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Truth You will inevitably lose productivity getting step debug working. 39

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But You will gain that time back 10 fold when you're debugging. I promise. 40

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Tips Using repeatable scripts to conﬁgure environments will make things easier. — Ansible — PuPHPet — Docker 41