Intermediate LevelPHP 8+
How do you configure Xdebug 3 for interactive step debugging and profiling in IDEs?
❓ Interview Prompt: Explain Xdebug 3 modes (debug, profile, trace), setting breakpoints, port 9003, and Docker client host configuration.
Xdebug 3 is the standard debugging and profiling extension for PHP, replacing legacy 'var_dump()' print debugging with interactive step debugging in IDEs (VS Code, PhpStorm).
Essential Xdebug 3 php.ini Settings:
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'xdebug.mode = debug,profile': Enables interactive step debugging and cachegrind performance profiling.
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'xdebug.start_with_request = trigger': Triggers Xdebug only when an 'XDEBUG_SESSION' cookie or query parameter is present.
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'xdebug.client_host = host.docker.internal': Directs Xdebug connections back to the developer host machine from inside Docker containers.
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'xdebug.client_port = 9003': Default Xdebug 3 connection port.
Code Implementation Example
ini
; Xdebug 3 php.ini Configuration for Docker & VS Code / PhpStorm
[xdebug]
zend_extension=xdebug.so
xdebug.mode=debug,profile
xdebug.start_with_request=trigger
xdebug.client_host=host.docker.internal
xdebug.client_port=9003
xdebug.output_dir=/tmp/xdebug_profiles💡Xdebug 3 php.ini configuration for interactive step debugging and profiling.
🎯 Interview Key Takeaway
Configure Xdebug 3 with xdebug.mode=debug and port 9003 to execute interactive step debugging in IDEs.
#Xdebug#Debugging#Profiling#Docker#Intermediate
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