PHP Development with VS Code: A Comprehensive Guide Part 2

The first installment of this series focuses on setting up the development environment for PHP coding in VS Code. It outlines a step-by-step guide, including installing VS Code, adding the PHP extension, configuring PHP settings in VS Code, and setting up a local development server. The article emphasized the importance of a well-configured development environment for efficient PHP coding. This article will reveal how to use VS Code’s debugging features to troubleshoot and fix errors in your code.

Debugging PHP in VS Code

Debugging is an important part of the development process, as it allows you to find and fix errors in your code. VS Code provides powerful debugging capabilities for PHP, including the ability to set breakpoints, inspect variables, and step through code. In this chapter, we’ll show you how to use VS Code’s debugging features to troubleshoot your PHP code.

Setting up debugging in VS Code

To start debugging in VS Code, you’ll need to set up a debugging configuration. This involves specifying the script to be debugged and the type of debugger to use. To set up a debugging configuration, go to the Debug tab in VS Code (by clicking on the Debug icon in the left sidebar) and click on the gear icon to create a new configuration. In the configuration, specify the script to be debugged and the type of debugger to use (such as “PHP”).

Using breakpoints

Breakpoints allow you to pause the execution of your code at a specific line, so you can inspect variables and step through the code. To set a breakpoint in VS Code, simply click on the left gutter of the editor (the area to the left of the line numbers). You can also right-click on a line of code and select “Toggle Breakpoint”. When the debugger hits a breakpoint, it will pause execution and allow you to inspect variables and step through the code.

Debugging with Xdebug

Xdebug is a popular PHP extension that provides advanced debugging capabilities, such as the ability to inspect variables, set breakpoints, and step through code. To use Xdebug with VS Code, you’ll need to install the Xdebug extension on your server and configure VS Code to use it. Once Xdebug is set up, you can use it to debug your PHP code in VS Code just like you would with the built-in debugger.

With these debugging techniques in your toolkit, you’ll be able to troubleshoot your PHP code more efficiently and effectively. In the next chapter, we’ll show you how to use Git in VS Code to manage your code and collaborate with others.