dd — Laravel's dd()/dump() as a native PHP extension

A compiled C extension (Zend engine) that provides dd() and dump() as built-in language functions instead of userland helpers. Output mirrors Symfony VarDumper's default theme — the same dumper Laravel uses.

Functions

Function	Behaviour
dd(...$vars)	Dump every argument, then halt the process (exit(1)).
dump(...$vars)	Dump every argument, then return them (1 arg ⇒ that arg; many ⇒ array of args).

Output auto-detection

Context	Format
Web SAPI	styled HTML <pre class=sf-dump> with collapsible nodes
CLI on a TTY	ANSI 256-colour
CLI piped, or NO_COLOR set	plain text

The colour palette, array:N [...] / Class {#id ...} layout, and the + public / # protected / - private visibility markers all match Symfony VarDumper.

In the browser, nested arrays/objects are collapsible: the top level is expanded and deeper levels are collapsed behind a ▶ toggle (showing a …N element-count placeholder) so you aren't flooded with the whole structure at once — click any node to expand/collapse it. The required CSS/JS is emitted once per request.

Build

phpize
./configure --enable-dd
make

Produces modules/dd.so.

Use it ad-hoc

php -d extension="$PWD/modules/dd.so" your-script.php

Enable permanently

sudo cp modules/dd.so "$(php-config --extension-dir)/"
# CLI:
echo 'extension=dd.so' | sudo tee /etc/php/8.4/cli/conf.d/20-dd.ini
# add an equivalent file under fpm/conf.d for web requests.

Because dd/dump become real internal functions, Laravel's and Symfony's userland definitions (both guarded by if (! function_exists(...))) silently defer to these — no "cannot redeclare" fatal.

Scope / limitations

• Handles null, bool, int, float, string, array, object (with visibility & uninitialized typed properties), resource; circular references are detected and shown as *RECURSION*.
• Floats use shortest round-tripping form (serialize_precision = -1).
• HTML output is interactive (click to expand/collapse nested nodes) but does not reproduce Symfony VarDumper's full widget (keyboard nav, search, source links, "expand all").
• Closures, and Symfony's per-class "casters" (Carbon, collections, etc.), are dumped as plain objects rather than with bespoke formatting.