Skip to content

PHP print var_dump to error_log

Here’s a piece of code I’ve been using when debugging PHP.

I want to print a value to the error log using error_log(), but it only accepts strings.

So I used this snippet to print the result of a var_dump():

ob_start();
var_dump($something);
$contents = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();
error_log($contents);
→ Get my PHP Handbook

I wrote 17 books to help you become a better developer, download them all at $0 cost by joining my newsletter

  • C Handbook
  • Command Line Handbook
  • CSS Handbook
  • Express Handbook
  • Git Cheat Sheet
  • Go Handbook
  • HTML Handbook
  • JS Handbook
  • Laravel Handbook
  • Next.js Handbook
  • Node.js Handbook
  • PHP Handbook
  • Python Handbook
  • React Handbook
  • SQL Handbook
  • Svelte Handbook
  • Swift Handbook

JOIN MY CODING BOOTCAMP, an amazing cohort course that will be a huge step up in your coding career - covering React, Next.js - next edition February 2025

Bootcamp 2025

Join the waiting list