Tools for debugging PHP on windows

newtophp

What is the best way of debugging a PHP script under windows. Are there any tools available to do this.

thanks

TheDefender

First thing's first... Consider a small investment into a good IDE with a good debugging engine... Something like Zend Studio (or whatever you prefer)

Second, always define your style of coding, and be consistent with it.

Third, be consistent with coding standards outlined in the PHP manual and the XHTML/HTML specs.

LordShryku

Or save the cash and learn how to spot errors in your code. Colored syntax helps, and vim has that. Then it's just a matter of interpreting the errors php gives you.

newtophp

I guess I did not phrase the question well.

What do I need to run a PHP script under windows (ie something to invoke and run the script). Are there PHP interpreters for windows and if so where can I find them. I presume PHP is an interpreted language.

Also with regard to the debugging - I guess I was looking for actual names of tools that I can get a hold of. I searched this forum but did not find too much info on this.

I do have GVIM on m computer - I guess I can use that for code writing.

TheDefender

Are you wanting to run PHP scripted web pages within Windows? If that's the case, then you need PHP and a webserver such as IIS or Apache (preferably the latter). A lot of IDEs have built in debugging engines. (like Zend Studio), but like LS said, learn to recognize the colors of the IDE, and you will be able to debug very quickly without the help of a tool. At that point, the tool really becomes more like a backup.

LordShryku

Originally posted by newtophp
Also with regard to the debugging - I guess I was looking for actual names of tools that I can get a hold of. I searched this forum but did not find too much info on this.

PHP itself has a debugger. In the config, you set your error reporting levels and tell it to display to the screen or log to file. It'll tell you when something goes wrong.

newtophp

Yes, the idea is to debug the script locally before uploading it to the web server which itself is running under Linux. This is hosted by an ISP remotely. However it will be easier to debug the script locally as it is very tedious to contantly upload and debug.

The actual scipt will eventually not be hosted under windows.

Unfortuanetly I'm only running windows on my machine and was looking for ways of developing and debugging locally before uploading.

I did install Apache but cannot seem to get it to serve up pages locally. Some debugging required there.

ZibingsCoder

You should browse through our "Install" forum right here on PHPBuilder. You might find some more relevant answers to your question there.

newtophp

Thanks - I'll check it out