Using Xdebug and Visual Studio Code is something that’s pretty easy to setup, but given that I’m still using Visual Studio Code should tell you something about how much I’m a fan of the IDE.
But here’s the thing:
MAMP is a free solution stack derived from the classic, open-source LAMP (software bundle), used to set up local server environment, and developed for Mac and Windows platforms. Its name stands for M ac (OS) + A pache (web server) + M ySQL (DBMS) + P HP, Perl, or Python (programming languages used for web development). MAMP stands for: Mac, Apache, MySQL and PHP. With just a few mouse-clicks, you can install Apache, PHP and MySQL for OS X! It installs a local server environment in a matter of seconds on your OS X computer, be it PowerBook or iMac. 在 MAC OS X 中配置 PHP、Apache、MySQL 和 Xdebug for PHP 开发. 本教程向您演示如何在 MAMP（Macintosh、Apache、MySQL、PHP）包上设置 PHP，该包中含有 Apache Web 服务器、MySQL 数据库服务器和 PHP 引擎。 MAMP 用作 Mac 的 PHP 开发环境，可与 NetBeans IDE 很好地配合使用。. Xdebug support, graphical debugger MacGDBp included; ImageMagick / iMagick support (must be activated in ini file via templates) INTL support (PHP 5.3 and newer). MAMP & MAMP PRO. Mac OS X 10.7 'Lion' compatible; MAMP & MAMP PRO (and its containing programs and libraries) are now available as 32Bit and 64Bit versions.
If you’re a WordPress developer, debugging is something that you really need to learn. That is, don’t use print_r and var_dump if you can help it. Use a legitimate debugger. It will help you think as the interpreter thinks and it will help you learn a bit more about Core.
Now that I’m off my soapbox, getting the necessary tools installed is easy. The article assumes you’re using MAMP Pro (since that’s what I use), but if you have access to php.ini then you’re going to be able to follow along.
Xdebug, Visual Studio Code, and Setting It Up
For those who haven’t heard of Xdebug before, think of it as a piece of software that allows you to pause your program while it’s running and see the values that variables have, what method is being executed, the call stack, and so on.
You can read more about it on the homepage, but here’s the gist of it:
A PHP extension for powerful debugging. It supports stack and function traces, profiling information and memory allocation and script execution analysis.
I know – memory allocation, script execution analysis, etc. sounds kind of boring if you’re not into that sort of thing, but the value that you get from running something like this cannot be understated.
Mamp Xdebug For Mac High Sierra
That said, here’s how to get it working with MAMP and Visual Studio.
1. Configure MAMP Pro
For the sake of WordPress’ base requirements, I’m going to assume you’re using PHP 5.6.28 (but the steps work the same regardless).
First, make sure that Xdebug is enabled from within the MAMP Pro dashboard.
Next, from the MAMP Pro menu, choose Edit Template > PHP 5.6.28 and then locate the area in the template file for the PHP configuration where Xdebug is located:
Make sure that it looks like this:
After saving it, MAMP Pro might prompt you to restart. If that’s the case, then do so. Even if it doesn’t, I recommend making sure that you do restart.
2. Configuration Visual Studio Code
Next, in Visual Studio Code, navigate to the Extensions pane and search for PHP Debug. Install it and activate it.
Once done, you may need to reload the IDE. Even if it doesn’t prompt you to do so, I recommend it. From there, Xdebug is installed and you’re ready to start debugging.
How Do I Debug?
This requires a little bit more of a walkthrough that I’d like to share in this post. That is, this post is short but the time to get things set up is a little bit longer.
Mamp Xdebug Mac
So in a follow-up post, I’ll walk through how to debug some of your own code and you can see it in action.
Mamp Xdebug For Mac Windows 10
You can handle normal MAMP if you include info from here.