PHP Debugging Techniques

Debugging techniques for PHP programmers

This article details various methods for debugging PHP applications, including turning on error reporting in Apache and PHP, and by placing strategic print statements to locate the source of more difficult bugs through a simple example PHP script. The PHPEclipse plug-in for Eclipse, a slick development environment with real-time syntax parsing abilities, will also be covered, as well as the DBG debugger extension for PHPEclipse.

There are many PHP debugging techniques that can save you countless hours when coding. An effective but basic debugging technique is to simply turn on error reporting. Another slightly more advanced technique involves using print statements, which can help pinpoint more elusive bugs by displaying what is actually going onto the screen. PHPEclipse is a Eclipse plug-in that can highlight common syntax errors and can be used in conjunction with a debugger to set breakpoints.