Many times when I start a hook_preprocess_hook, I start by printing the $vars object. I can do this by dpm()'ing, dsm()'ing, kint()'ing etc. The problem is that all of these functions print $vars in an expanded fashion and bring my computer to its knees. dd() works incredibly well in just about every other thing I do inside drupal, but for some reason dd() just WSOD's inside a preprocess.
Is there anything like dd() (i.e. prints arrays/objects in a collapsed fashion) that can be used inside a preprocess?
I'm aware of XDebug, but I'm wondering if there is something as simple as install module -> use function like devel/dd() works in other drupal applications.