Debugging Techniques for Drupal and LAMP

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Video by Variant Studios

A general approach to debugging Drupal problems will be presented, followed by an overview of a variety of tools such as the Devel suite, krumo, xdebug, client side debugging such as Firebug and LiveHTTPHeaders. In addition to debugging functionality, approaches to performance related problems will be covered. Some of these techniques apply generally to all web applications or other PHP code.
A structured debugging approach that narrows down problems, rather than making random changes and guesses, is the main goal of the talk.

The audience will have a chance to share any debugging tricks they have during a question and answer session.

Schedule info

Time slot: 
12 June 14:45 - 15:30
Room: 
Recital Hall

Log markers

Most applications have some sort of design document or drawings or both. Designers should add markers to each branch point - whether using user stories, UML, ERDs, DFDs or any other technique - in the design.

Developers can then add a log statement identifying the marker when they write that branch point in their code. When reading the log files to debug a problem, one can then relate the actual execution path directly to the plan by way of the markers wirtten in the logs.

It's kind of like creating a path in the forest to find your way home, or drawing a heavy line on your map when driving to West Virginia. This will make the log files significantly more navigable.

As a QA Engineer my repeated request to the designers and the developers is to PLEASE MAKE THE APPLICATION TESTABLE!!