Seeks Debugging: Any On-line Known?

ATS16805

for html coders who want to publish valid, compliant XHTML, we've got free software resources we can install locally such as CSE Validator, or the trusty HTML Validator extension for Firefox, and any good boy wouldn't be finished until he consulted the Last Word in HTML Validation, the W3C resource at validator.w3.org

likewise, as a web application developer's PHP code starts to take shape, and he begins to test here and there-- similar in purpose to HTML validation, we've got local options for debugging the PHP code: the error reporting built into PHP itself-- if the developer is on top of his game he might use that as his resource,; there are the supplemental extensions such as DBG, APD, Xdebug; the Zend IDE; the NuSphere IDE, and the list goes on (and ON!)... , but what about the PHP coder's equivalent to the W3C online validator? i realize debugging is more complex than simple HTML Validation, but...

does anyone know of an on-line resource where we can test our own submitted PHP code against some on-line debugger / syntax checker?

whether it's copy / paste method, or a URL link as the W3C validator, or any method at all? is there anything out there which might be a little more verbose than, for example, what i get from Xdebug-- and perhaps a bit more "unbreakable" since i can't step-out or step-in w/ break points, etc?
i'm aware also of the built-in syntax checking (as my preferred IDE incorporates an option to use php -l myfile.php from the commandline)

why? why do i care?
because something that i changed in my code has caused the whole 'page' to stop loading-- so i get a white screen, yet all i've changed that i recall is just some HTML in a php string somewhere... i can't see why it broke my page!

plus the online debugger is something i've been wondering about anyway...

bpat1434

No online debuggers that I know of... and there really doesn't need to be one... here are my thoughts...:

If you're developing PHP apps (or scripts) you've got a server somewhere (whether development or otherwise) that you run the script on. Why do you need an online validator? Nothing better to check syntax (and if it works) than the PHP parser itself ( 😉 ). Plus, the validator would have to take into account all coding styles, all types of arguments and such. I guess theoretically an online validator would just run a quick PHP request (as you said above) and check the output.

But why would any developer need that? PHP and a webserver are so easy to acquire and install, an online validator isn't really necessary in my eyes....

ATS16805

dang, bp-- i think you're the only one who doesn't run the opposite direction when my userid is marked as author. heehee.
kidding, but i understand why, and i truly wish that a concise description were easy for me. i need a class on tech writing. i just can't do it.

anyway--
if the value of a debugger should remain at issue, then indeed it would be fool who would reason to continue inquiry as to whether there might be a viable on-line alternative to those of Zend, NuSphere, etc.

but, if the value of a debugger does remain at issue, then why is it marketed as such a big turn-on by such giants as the Zend IDE, the PHPed, etc., etc.

you'd be right to assume that i don't have a facility which affords me, for example, the Zend debugger functionality, yet i have installed what, as proposed by bpatt, when used in combo are equally adequate for debugging: PHP5, Apache2, and i've even added Xdebug.

regarding only the "debugging" functionality, is there not at a deficit there between what i use for development, and what one might use who purchased a rather prestigious IDE; an IDE who's retailers / distributors pay sums of fees for advertising space on which some of that space lies mention of a built-in debugger as a remarkable feature?

we might agree that both development environments described here, in the right hands, could yeild equally functional applications, yet are these not two different development experiences: that which exists between, for example, the Zend IDE (or "ZDE") vs. the combo of my server setup (as described above), used with any of the countless freeware text Editors or free Web Dev IDEs? commercially speaking, is one not more valuable than the other?

assuming, for the sake of argument, that there is no developmental value to a debugger as such, then there must be some widely accepted commercial value to this unneeded facility, so wouldn't it make sense to consider creating a viable supplement-- perhaps something available on-line, free or commercial, to accommodate those who like myself, do not own, or have access to an IDE with a built-in debugger?

c'mon, bpatt-- you're an american for chrissake! capitalism ring a bell w/ you? heehee
😃

naw-- to hell w/ all of that nonsense, i just want one!...
so, that said... anyone know of any out there on-line?
🙂

bpat1434

Well, the IDEs are for those that can't have an environment on their desktop. But most people who write PHP will most likely have one of the following:
1.) Online server for their site
2.) Server running on their own machine

So.... unless you're doing remote work on a project, an online debugger isn't necessarily a "happenin'" idea. And if you're gonna be online, why test just the syntax when it could just as easily be uploaded to the server and tested in its target environment.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but I just fail to see the real reasoning behind it. I can't see any support for it.

ATS16805

right on-- i hear what you're saying about it making little sense and all... but i think we're talking about two different things here...

i'm not talking about just being able to parse the code-- to run the script-- to execute the program... whatever is the best way to put it (can you tell i didn't take comp-sci in college?... naw!)... obviously, if you've got error reporting turned on (and something as Xdebug), it's pretty darn easy to know whether or not your code is gonna work or not. plain and simple it either does, or it doesn't. and if it doesn't, then Notice X, Warning Y, and / or maybe Warning Z are quite likely the reason's why it doesn't. although the act of manually going into your code and fixing the error is indeed "debugging" the code, that's not what i mean when i'm talking about a "debugger" in an IDE, and would definitely not want to copy/ paste my code onto you somewhere there bp... unless you really are that good, and ya think it might help...heehee

where did i learn to speak this blasphemy? to what or whom do i owe for the rank foul that is my mouth? the source of inspiration for my nonsensical idea is... yep...you guessed it... the 'Z D Evil'
the "Debugging" feature that this IDE offers a few... i guess you'd say... execution options that one would not easily access in a simple Apache setup as i've described mine to be. Let's consult a more popular resource, shall we?

Wikipedia: Debugging wrote:
Debuggers are software tools which enable the programmer to monitor the execution of a program, stop it, re-start it, run it in slow motion, change values in memory and even, in some cases, go back in time.

actually-- i'm going to stop fooling around here, and just post the darn code that's buggin' me. how about that. how easy to forget it's usually better to talk to humans. doh!

(oh, and by the way-- that previous post of mine was my best attempt at a high-falootin reply to get some goat for fun of course.... i think mr bpatt knows i very much appreciate all the help, and the time he's lended me over many yesterdays)
[FONT=Microsoft Sans Serif]and yes... the new məds are pretty hardcore![/FONT]