diff --git a/app/debug.php b/app/debug.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47ceb9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/debug.php
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+<?php
+
+function debug_print($obj)
+{
+    printf('<pre>%s</pre>', print_r($obj, 1));
+}
+
+function debug_var_dump($obj)
+{
+    printf('<pre>%s</pre>', var_dump_str($obj));
+}
+
+function var_dump_str()
+{
+    $argc = func_num_args();
+    $argv = func_get_args();
+
+    if ($argc > 0) {
+        ob_start();
+        call_user_func_array('var_dump', $argv);
+        $result = ob_get_contents();
+        ob_end_clean();
+        return $result;
+    }
+    return '';
+}
diff --git a/public/index.php b/public/index.php
index c345e1a..1501394 100644
--- a/public/index.php
+++ b/public/index.php
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 <?php
 
-function debug_print($obj)
-{
-    printf('<pre>%s</pre>', print_r($obj,1));
-}
+require '../app/debug.php';
 
 require '../lib/autoload.php';