# Using Visual Studio Code with PHP and Xdebug


This post describes how to set up, run, and debug **PHP** code with **Visual Studio Code** running on Windows.

## What do we need?

Compared to some other popular programming languages for the Web, PHP is missing some tools, so I created a shopping list to make the experience more complete.

Basically what we need is:
* the PHP runtime itself,
* a modern code editor with syntax highlighting,
* a debugger connected to our code editor,
* and a (development) webserver.

## Runtime (PHP)

We start with the **PHP** runtime. The PHP runtime will pars en execute our `.php` files and outputs the HTML (or anything you want) back to you.

1. Download [PHP version 7.4](https://windows.php.net/download#php-7.4) (VC15 x64 Non Thread Safe) and extract the archive to `c:\php\`.
2. Add the folder `c:\php\` to your path, so we can easily access it. `setx path "%path%;C:\php\"`

  > Recent versions of PHP are built with Visual Studio 2019. You need to install the [Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2019](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/#microsoft-visual-c-redistributable-for-visual-studio-2019) before PHP can run.
  >
  > `winget install "Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable (x64)"`

3. Now we can run PHP `php -v` and see if it works. It should show you the version number and copyright information.

## Debugger (Xdebug)

To debug PHP code, we need to add an extension **Xdebug** to PHP.

1. Download [Xdebug 2.9](https://xdebug.org/download) for PHP 7.4 (VC15 64 bit) and place the DLL into the folder `C:\php\ext`.
2. In the folder `c:\php\` **rename** the file `php.ini-development` to `php.ini`.
3. Add to the following lines to the file `php.ini` to tell PHP to use Xdebug:

  ```
  zend_extension=C:\php\ext\php_xdebug-2.9.6-7.4-vc15-nts-x86_64.dll
  xdebug.remote_enable = 1
  xdebug.remote_autostart = 1
  ```

4. Check if Xdebug is part of PHP, use the `php -v` command again, and see if you get the response **with Xdebug v2.9.6**.

  ![Run PHP](php.png)

## Webserver (IIS Express)

When creating web applications/sites, we also need a webserver. PHP does not have a development web server, so we need to use something else to serve our pages. Under Windows, it is common to use Microsoft **Internet Information Services** (IIS). We are using the lightweight (nonproduction) version IIS Express.

1. Download [IIS 10 Express](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48264).
2. Start the setup and install it on your system
3. Run IIS for the first time and quit (we need the initial configuration files)

  ```cmd
  cd c:\Program Files\IIS Express\
  iisexpress
  Starting IIS Express ...
  Successfully registered URL "http://localhost:8080/" for site "WebSite1" application "/"
  Registration completed for site "WebSite1"
  IIS Express is running.
  Enter 'Q' to stop IIS Express
  ```

4. We need to tell IIS to use the PHP runtime (using fastCGI) and associate `.php` files with it. We also tell IIS to use `index.php` as a starting point:

  ```cmd
  appcmd set config /section:system.webServer/fastCGI /+[fullPath='"C:\php\php-cgi.exe"']
  appcmd set config /section:system.webServer/handlers /+[name='PHP_via_FastCGI',path='*.php',verb='*',modules='FastCgiModule',scriptProcessor='"C:\php\php-cgi.exe"',resourceType='Unspecified']
  appcmd set config /section:system.webServer/defaultDocument /+"files.[value='index.php']"
  ```

## Code editor (VSCode)

**Visual Studio Code** is a cross-platform, free, and opensource code editor. I use it for most of my projects. 

1. Download [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) or use WinGet `winget install "Visual Studio Code"`
2. Run the setup and install it on your system
3. Add the two following extensions to Visual Studio Code:
   * [IIS Express](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=warren-buckley.iis-express)
   * [PHP Debug](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=felixfbecker.php-debug)

4. In your Visual Studio Code **project**, go to the debugger and hit the little **gear icon** ⚙️ and choose **PHP**. A new launch configuration file is created for you `launch.json`. This will start listening on the specified port (by default 9000) for Xdebug. Every time you make a request with a browser to your web server, Xdebug will connect, and you can stop on breakpoints, exceptions, etc.

![Start Internet Information Services](start_iis.png)

![Debug PHP code](debug.png)

More information how to use the debugger in Visual Studio Code, you can read here [https://code.visualstudio.com/Docs/editor/debugging](https://code.visualstudio.com/Docs/editor/debugging)

## Visual Studio Code User Settings

To configure Visual Studio Code to use PHP, add the following line to the user configuration.

```json
{
  "php.validate.executablePath": "c:/php/php.exe"
}
```

![Visual Studio Code User Settings](vscode.png)

You now ready to develop, run, and debug PHP code on Windows.