Merge pull request #192 from beryllium/xdebug

Initial attempt at XDebug The Right Way

_posts/03-06-01-XDebug.md

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+---
+isChild: true
+---
+
+## XDebug {#xdebug_title}
+
+One of the most useful tools in software development is a proper debugger. It allows you to trace the execution of your
+code and monitor the contents of the stack. XDebug, PHP's debugger, can be utilized by various IDEs to provide
+Breakpoints and stack inspection. It can also allow tools like PHPUnit and KCacheGrind to perform code coverage analysis
+and code profiling.
+
+If you find yourself in a bind, willing to resort to var_dump/print_r, and you still can't find the solution - maybe you
+need to use the debugger.
+
+[Installing XDebug][xdebug-install] can be tricky, but one of its most important features is "Remote Debugging" - if you
+develop code locally and then test it inside a VM or on another server, Remote Debugging is the feature that you will
+want to enable right away.
+
+Traditionally, you will modify your Apache VHost or .htaccess file with these values:
+
+    php_value xdebug.remote_host=192.168.?.?
+    php_value xdebug.remote_port=9000
+
+The "remote host" and "remote port" will correspond to your local computer and the port that you configure your IDE to
+listen on. Then it's just a matter of putting your IDE into "listen for connections" mode, and loading the URL:
+
+    http://your-website.example.com/index.php?XDEBUG_SESSION_START=1
+
+Your IDE will now intercept the current state as the script executes, allowing you to set breakpoints and probe the
+values in memory.
+
+ * [Learn more about XDebug][xdebug-docs]
+
+[xdebug-docs]: http://xdebug.org/docs/
+[xdebug-install]: http://xdebug.org/docs/install