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Debugger

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:48 pm
by jaymenna78734
Newbie Question:

I am a refugee from a dyeing language. New to PHP. I am lookng for an IDE of sorts. Cost is not really on object.

I would love a step in, step out, break point capable debugger.

Suggestions?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:52 pm
by aaronhall
The zend ide is a little on the pricey side, but has an excellent debugger. Eclipse PDT (cost: free) is a great IDE, but I haven't really explored its debugging features. I know there are quite a few of us here that use it regularly.

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 1:39 am
by Stryks
Take a look at phpEd.

Full debug setup and oh so much more.

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:42 am
by Benjamin
I've never seen a skilled PHP programmer need a debugger.

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 7:02 am
by Kieran Huggins
I've heard good things about Komodo IDE, but I never could make the switch.

PHP error messages are pretty clear, I never really found the need for a debugger. Just turn on E_ALL when developing, then turn it off again when you're live.

Thanks All

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 8:56 am
by jaymenna78734
Thanks all for the suggestions Ill try them and see.

As for: "I've never seen a skilled PHP programmer need a debugger."

Shoud I forget regression/acceptance testing too?

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 7:09 pm
by Doug G
eclipse-pdt with xdebug is pretty easy to get going, just download the all-in-one package from the pdt download site. There is a newsgroup if you get stuck. Eclipse is a "large" ide, it will take you a while to get used to it but if you do it works pretty well and has lots of different features you can plug in.

The statement about skilled php programmers not needing a debugger is just plain silly. A good debugger will let a good programmer be far more productive, you can track down bugs in your code in a tenth the time an trying with no debugger. But you probaly know that already since you're looking for a debugger :)

Thanks Doug

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:14 pm
by jaymenna78734
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of hours people will spend to support "Free"

If you do a craft get the best tools possible. If you do it every day, dont let cost get in your way.

If I read this right Zend Studio cost $250? If is saves me an hour it pays for itself. If it save me two there is a positive ROI.

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:21 pm
by neophyte
Who needs a debugger when there's always -- var_dump(). Anyway if you are using TDD I'm not sure how useful a debugger is...