Simple helper for logging things to a file in php

stdlog.php

<?php

if(!defined('STDOUT'))
{
  define('STDOUT', fopen(base_path().'/application.log', 'a'));
}
/**
* provides an useful function for logging things to a file instead of sendind
* anything to the browser, for example var_dumps
*/
if(!function_exists('stdlog'))
{
  function stdlog($var)
  {
    if(is_string($var))
    {
      fwrite(STDOUT, Carbon::now(Config::get('app.timezone'))->format('[c] ').$var.PHP_EOL);
    }
    else
    {
      $out = print_r($var, true);
      fwrite(STDOUT, Carbon::now(Config::get('app.timezone'))->format('[c] '));
      fwrite(STDOUT, $out.PHP_EOL);
    }
  }
}