I'm wondering what's the best way to extend the MAMP PHP core itself so that custom functions will be available globally without the need to import libraries.
A good example of what I want to do is to have a dd function (which is var_dump() + die(), inspired by Laravel) available in all my local projects.
These methods need to be available only on my local environement (where my version of MAMP is installed) and for debugging purposes only, so there is no fear of breaking PHP funcionality on end server.
Thanks for your help.
There are two approaches for this:
Adding a module to php which is loaded like all the other modules. Modules like database connectors, math libraries, translation functions, whatever. All those functions are not part of "the php core". The core implements only the language itself. You can see what modules are currently loaded and their configurations in your php setup by using the function phpinfo().
Implementing a module is possible, you need to know c or c++ langauge for this. An interesting project, you will learn a lot. But this is also a huge overhead to what you are looking for.
Implement your functions in a normal php file somewhere outside your normal project folder. Then register that file inside your http servers php configuration as "to be loaded for every executed script". That is exactly what the "auto_prepend_file" feature does. That way you can easily add global functions always available in all scripts on your local system.
Believe me, you want to give the second approach a try :-)