How can PHPStan detect errors in your PHP code?

1 What is PHPStan?

PHPStan is a tool that analyzes your PHP code without executing it, and reports any errors, inconsistencies, or violations of coding standards. It can help you find typos, undefined variables, incorrect types, unused code, and other mistakes that could cause bugs or unexpected behavior. PHPStan can also help you enforce best practices and follow the principles of clean code, such as avoiding complex expressions, long methods, or deep nesting.

2 How to install PHPStan?

PHPStan is available as a Composer package, so you can easily install it in your project using the command line. You need to have PHP 7.1 or higher and Composer installed on your system. To install PHPStan, run the following command in your project directory: composer require --dev phpstan/phpstan This will add PHPStan as a development dependency in your composer.json file, and download it to your vendor directory. You can also install PHPStan globally, or use a PHAR file or a Docker image, depending on your preferences and environment.

3 How to configure PHPStan?

PHPStan offers a lot of customization options that you can tailor to your needs and preferences. You can create a configuration file, such as phpstan.neon or phpstan.neon.dist, to specify the parameters for PHPStan. The most frequently used parameters include level, paths, excludePaths, parameters, and includes. Level is the strictness of analysis from 0-8; higher levels require more annotations and documentation in your code. Paths are the directories or files you want to analyze, while excludePaths are the ones you want to exclude. Parameters affect the behavior of PHPStan, such as memory limit or autoload files. Includes are external configuration files or extensions that add support for frameworks, libraries, and features like Laravel, Symfony, Doctrine, and PHPUnit. Further information and examples can be found in the PHPStan documentation.

4 How to run PHPStan?

Once you have installed and configured PHPStan, you can run it from the command line using the following syntax: vendor/bin/phpstan analyse [options] [paths] You can specify the options and paths that you want to use for the analysis, or use the ones defined in your configuration file. PHPStan will scan your code and output the results in the console, or in a file or a tool of your choice, depending on the error format that you choose. You can also use PHPStan as a part of your continuous integration or testing process, by integrating it with tools like PHPUnit, Codeception, Travis CI, GitHub Actions, etc.

5 How to fix errors with PHPStan?

PHPStan will report the errors that it finds in your code, along with the file name, line number, and message. You can use this information to locate and fix the errors manually, or use an editor or an IDE that supports PHPStan, such as PHPStorm, VS Code, Sublime Text, etc. These tools can integrate PHPStan with their code analysis, syntax highlighting, and code completion features, and help you fix the errors faster and easier. You can also use PHPStan to automatically fix some of the errors, such as code style or formatting issues, by using the PHPStan Code Style extension, or by combining it with other tools like PHP Coding Standards Fixer or PHP Code Beautifier and Fixer. However, you should always review and test the changes that PHPStan makes to your code, and use version control to track and revert them if needed.

PHPStan is a powerful and useful tool that can help you write better PHP code for your web applications. It can detect and prevent errors, improve your code quality and readability, and enforce coding standards and best practices. By using PHPStan, you can save time and effort, avoid bugs and issues, and increase your confidence and satisfaction as a PHP developer.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?