Development tools

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Spryker provides a comprehensive suite of development tools that cover every aspect of the development lifecycle—from debugging and performance profiling to code quality assurance and AI-assisted development. These integrated tools ensure developers have everything needed to build, maintain, and scale high-quality e-commerce applications efficiently.

Why development tools are essential

Modern e-commerce development demands robust tooling to manage complexity, ensure code quality, and maintain high performance. Quality development tools provide:

  • Faster debugging: Identify and fix issues quickly with proper debugging and profiling tools
  • Code quality: Maintain high standards through automated static analysis and architectural validation
  • Performance optimization: Profile application performance and identify bottlenecks before they reach production
  • Developer productivity: Accelerate development with AI-assisted coding and automated quality checks
  • Upgradability: Ensure your project follows best practices, making upgrades smoother and less risky
  • Team consistency: Enforce coding standards and architectural patterns across the entire development team

Without proper development tools, projects accumulate technical debt, suffer from performance issues, and become increasingly difficult to maintain and upgrade.

Spryker’s complete development toolkit

Spryker provides an integrated ecosystem of development tools, eliminating the need to search for, evaluate, and configure third-party solutions. All tools are pre-configured to work seamlessly with Spryker’s architecture and development workflow.

Debugging tools

Xdebug integration

Spryker includes Xdebug support for interactive debugging and profiling:

  • Step-through debugging: Set breakpoints, inspect variables, and trace code execution
  • Performance profiling: Identify slow functions and performance bottlenecks

Documentation:

Performance profiling tools

WebProfiler

WebProfiler is available for all Spryker application layers:

Code quality tools

Spryker provides a complete suite of code quality tools tailored to e-commerce development and Spryker’s architecture:

PHPStan - Static analysis

PHPStan performs type checking and code analysis to catch bugs before runtime:

  • Type safety validation
  • Dead code detection
  • Incorrect method calls identification
  • Configuration: Pre-configured for Spryker projects at level 6

PHPStan documentation

Code Sniffer - Code style enforcement

Ensures consistent code formatting and adherence to coding standards:

  • PSR-12 compliance
  • Spryker-specific coding standards
  • Automatic code style fixing capabilities
  • IDE integration for real-time feedback

Code Sniffer documentation

Architecture Sniffer - Spryker architecture validation

Validates that your code follows Spryker’s architectural patterns and conventions:

  • Layer separation enforcement (Yves, Zed, Client, Service)
  • Module dependency validation
  • Plugin architecture compliance
  • Facade pattern adherence

Architecture Sniffer documentation

Project Architecture Sniffer - Project-specific validation

Extends Architecture Sniffer with project-level rules and best practices:

  • Project-specific architectural patterns
  • Custom business logic validation
  • Integration pattern compliance
  • Upgradability checks

Project Architecture Sniffer documentation

Evaluator - Upgradability and compatibility checks

Validates project compatibility with Spryker core and checks upgrade readiness:

  • Core module compatibility validation
  • Deprecated feature detection
  • Breaking change identification
  • Upgrade path recommendations

Evaluator tool documentation

AI-assisted development tools

Spryker embraces AI technology to accelerate development and improve code quality:

AI Assistant

AI-powered development assistance for Spryker projects:

  • Code generation for Spryker modules and patterns
  • Best practice recommendations
  • Documentation lookup and integration assistance
  • Common task automation

AI Assistant documentation

AI Dev Tool

Advanced AI development capabilities integrated into the development workflow:

  • Intelligent code suggestions
  • Architectural pattern guidance
  • Automated refactoring recommendations
  • Context-aware documentation

AI Dev Tool documentation

Integrated development workflow

All Spryker development tools work together seamlessly:

  1. Write code with AI Assistant guidance
  2. Debug issues using Xdebug integration
  3. Profile performance with WebProfiler
  4. Validate quality with Code Sniffer, PHPStan, and Architecture Sniffers
  5. Check upgradability with Evaluator
  6. Run in CI with automated validation pipelines

This integrated approach ensures consistent quality across the entire development process.

Best practices

To maximize the value of development tools:

  1. Run tools locally: Catch issues before pushing to CI
  2. Configure IDE integration: Get real-time feedback while coding
  3. Use WebProfiler proactively: Profile performance during development, not just when issues arise
  4. Review Evaluator output regularly: Stay informed about upgrade compatibility
  5. Leverage AI tools: Speed up development with AI-assisted code generation
  6. Enforce in CI: Make quality checks mandatory in pull request pipelines
  7. Update regularly: Keep development tools up-to-date to benefit from new features and improvements

Spryker provides everything developers need to build, maintain, and scale world-class e-commerce applications—no additional tooling required.