PHP Error_logs

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To help debugging wiht PHP you can run error_logs. This should be a one time set up where you can go into your php.ini file and make a few changes. 
/usr/local/etc/php/php.ini

Once in there you should make 3 changes, turn log_errors on, turn display_erros off and set a file that error_log should log to. 

log_errors = On
display_errors = On
error_log = /usr/local/var/log/php/php_errors.log

Make sure that all of these lines are uncommented (don't have a ; in front of them)

You can set the errors_log file to any file you'd like, but you will have to go in and make that file. 

Next, restart php (apache) and you should be able to run your logs. To make it simipler, it's a good idea to create a bash alias for this. 

In your terminal type open -e .bash_profile 
Once in the file, type

alias phplog='tail -f /usr/local/var/log/php/php_errors.log'

This creates a new alias called phplog that shows a continual stream of everything added to your error log. 

Now, if you want to create custom errors to help you debug your code you can use the error_log() function. You can type in a custom
error message or you can have it output the value of a variable. 

error_log("Look at this error");
error_log($var)

If you want to output a variable that isn't just a string, you'll need to use this version, otherwise if your variable is 
an array, it will just output "array"

error_log(var_export($var, true));