Debugging Variables in a php file

Hi

I've got a php script that reads files from a dropbox account and then using Vue, displays them.

We have added a feature to create a new folder and move through them.

However, we load all the dropbox information (filename/size/date) into an array, called $files.

I'd like to see what's inside this variable and all the arrays.

As I am new to php/js programming especially in a Laravel/Vue system, am struggling getting the variables out!

I have a blade that uses templates to build the screen and within one of the templates, if I do a @dd(get_defined_vars()); in some of the (as it were - higher templates) templates I either get a lot of variables but not the $file and if I place it further down the templates (as it were) I just get a white screen and it doesn't do anything!

Alternatively, when the php file creates and builds the variable $files, I can't output anything from the php file to the console, is there an easy way of debugging?

It's all rather frustrating!

Thanks for any and all help Carl.