Other packages with Xdebug-like features (informative PHP errors, formatted var_dump()s, etc.)?

Question

When Xdebug is installed/enabled, standard PHP errors (when set to display in the browser) are replaced with more informative messages that include stack traces for each. Also, I've noticed that it also seems to improve output in other areas such as the var_dump() function, formatting/color-coding the output to make it more readable.

Are there any 3rd party packages that offer similar functionality? I tend to prefer using Zend Debugger for debugging and would love to find something like this that doesn't depend on Xdebug. Certainly I could write my own error handler, a custom var_dump() function, etc., but I would love to find something that transparently integrates itself into PHP the way Xdebug's functionality does.

Edit: I should emphasize that I'm not looking for a debugger, but for the "extras" that Xdebug offers.

Answer 1

Try NuSphere's PHP IDE. It has an integrated debugger also, and you can get a demo version free if you like.

http://www.nusphere.com/

Answer 2

As for your debugging you'll only find access through PHP extensions, regardless of what IDE you are using.

Xdebug is the most popular due to it's extra features, beyond that of what you've even described. Xdebug will do profiling (tracing) into the valgrind format that you can use programs like Kcachegrind and wincachegrind to evaluate.

Your only other real alternative to the debugging facilities Xdebug provides is Zend Debugger which is a part of the Zend Platform (again available as an extension).

As for the replacements, you won't find any other extensions that do the var_dump and error reporting replacements. And especially won't find (beyond Zend Debugger) a debugging protocol, and definitely won't find any other extension that does profiling.

Answer 3

dBug offers quite a nice replacement for print_r:

http://dbug.ospinto.com/