Enable Debugbar in your `.env` file (`APP_DEBUG=true`). The Debugbar will appear at the bottom of your browser window in development. It provides insights into requests, queries, views, and more.
-
**Logging:**
Use `Debugbar::info()`, `Debugbar::error()`, etc., to log custom messages and variables to the Debugbar's messages tab.
2. `dd()` and `dump()`:
- `dd()` (dump and die): This function outputs the contents of a variable and halts script execution. It is useful for quickly inspecting variables at a specific point in the package's code.
Code
```
dd($variable);
```
- `dump()`: Similar to `dd()`, but it does not halt execution, allowing the script to continue. The output appears in the browser or terminal.
Code
```
dump($variable);
```
3. XDebug:
-
**Installation and Configuration:**
Install XDebug for your PHP environment and configure it to work with your IDE (e.g., VS Code). This typically involves setting up a `launch.json` file in VS Code and ensuring the XDebug port matches your configuration.
-
**Breakpoints:**
XDebug allows you to set breakpoints within your package's code. When execution reaches a breakpoint, it pauses, allowing you to inspect variables, step through the code line by line, and understand the flow.
4. Logging:
- **Laravel's Log Facade:** Utilize Laravel's built-in logging system to write messages and variable values to the log files (typically `storage/logs`). This is helpful for tracing execution flow and identifying issues in a non-interactive manner.
Code
```
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
Log::info('Debugging package functionality.', ['data' => $someData]);
```
5. Ray Desktop Debugging:
-
**Installation:**
Install the Ray desktop application and the `spatie/laravel-ray` package in your Laravel project.
-
**Usage:**
Ray allows you to send data from your application to the desktop app for inspection. It offers a more structured and interactive way to debug than simple `dump()` calls, especially for complex objects and arrays.
Code
```
ray($variable);
ray()->mailable(new MyMailable()); // Example for mailables
```
6. Collection Debugging:
- When working with Laravel Collections within a package, chain `dump()` calls after each collection method to inspect the intermediate results at each step of the chain.
Code
```
$collection->filter(...)
->dump() // Inspect after filter
->map(...)
->dump() // Inspect after map
->get();
```