php var_dump() vs print_r()

It's too simple. The var_dump() function displays structured information about variables/expressions including its type and value. Whereas The print_r() displays information about a variable in a way that's readable by humans.

Example: Say we have got the following array and we want to display its contents.

$arr = array ('xyz', false, true, 99, array('50'));

print_r() function - Displays human-readable output

Array
(
    [0] => xyz
    [1] =>
    [2] => 1
    [3] => 99
    [4] => Array
        (
            [0] => 50
        )
)

var_dump() function - Displays values and types

array(5) {
  [0]=>
  string(3) "xyz"
  [1]=>
  bool(false)
  [2]=>
  bool(true)
  [3]=>
  int(100)
  [4]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(2) "50"
  }
}

For more details: https://stackhowto.com/how-to-display-php-variable-values-with-echo-print_r-and-var_dump/

var_dump() :-

1. This function displays structured information about one or more expressions that includes its type and value. Arrays and objects are explored recursively with values indented to show structure.
2. This function display number of element in a variable.
3. This function display length of variable.
4. Can't return the value only print the value.
5. it is use for debugging purpose.

Example :-

<?php
$a = array(1, 2, array("a", "b", "c"));
var_dump($a);
?>

output :-

   array(3) {
  [0]=>
  int(1)
  [1]=>
  int(2)
  [2]=>
  array(3) {
    [0]=>
    string(1) "a"
    [1]=>
    string(1) "b"
    [2]=>
    string(1) "c"
  }
}

print_r() :-

1. Prints human-readable information about a variable.
2. Not display number of element in a variable as var_dump().
3. Not display length of variable in a variable as var_dump().
4. Return the value if we set second parameter to true in printf_r().

Example :-

<pre>
<?php
$a = array ('a' => 'apple', 'b' => 'banana', 'c' => array ('x', 'y', 'z'));
print_r ($a);
?>
</pre>

Output:-

<pre>
Array
(
    [a] => apple
    [b] => banana
    [c] => Array
        (
            [0] => x
            [1] => y
            [2] => z
        )
)
</pre>

We can pass multiple parameters with var_dump like:

var_dump("array1",$array1,"array2",$array2);

For all who needs the var_dump() function for testing!

function test_dump (...$params)
{
    
    $file_test_dump = 'test_dump.log';

    $backtrace = debug_backtrace(0, 3);

    $caller_file        = $backtrace[0]['file']);  
    $caller_function    = $backtrace[1]['function'];
    $caller_line        = $backtrace[0]['line'];

    if (empty($params))
    {
        file_put_contents ($file_test_dump, "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\n" , FILE_APPEND);
        file_put_contents ($file_test_dump, '!!!!!! ' . date ("[Y-m-d H:i:s:u]", time()) . " - FILE: {$caller_file} | FUNCTION: {$caller_function} | LINE: {$caller_line} !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! \n\n" , FILE_APPEND);
        file_put_contents ($file_test_dump, "!!! No parameter given !!! \n\n" , FILE_APPEND);
        return;
    }
    
    

    // --- get source file ---
    $source_file = file($backtrace[0]['file']);
    
    // --- get line of source file and pre filter with regex ---
    preg_match ('~\(([^*]*)\)~', $source_file [intval($backtrace[0]['line']) - 1], $parameter_line);
    $parameter_line_filtered = str_replace(" ", "", $parameter_line [1]);

    // put parameter names into array
    $params_names = explode(',', $parameter_line_filtered);



    // --- OUTPUT   ----
    
    file_put_contents ($file_test_dump, "#######################################################################################################################################################################################################################\n" , FILE_APPEND);
    file_put_contents ($file_test_dump, '### ' . date ("[Y-m-d H:i:s:u]", time()) . " - FILE: {$caller_file} | FUNCTION: {$caller_function} | LINE: {$caller_line} ### \n\n" , FILE_APPEND);
    
    
    $i = 0;
    
    foreach ($params as $param)
    {

        $i++;

        file_put_contents ($file_test_dump, "   --- Parameter " . $i . ': ' . $params_names[$i - 1] . " --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n", FILE_APPEND);

        if (    is_array($param)    ||
                is_object($param) ||
                is_bool($param) )
        {
            ob_start();
            var_dump($param);
            file_put_contents ($file_test_dump, ob_get_contents() . "\n\n", FILE_APPEND);
            ob_end_clean();
        }
        else
        {
            file_put_contents ($file_test_dump, $param . "\n\n", FILE_APPEND);
        }


    }

    file_put_contents ($file_test_dump, "\n\n", FILE_APPEND);

}