How can debugging techniques be utilized effectively in PHP to identify and resolve issues like the one faced by the forum user?

Issue: The forum user is facing an issue with their PHP code where a variable is not being properly assigned a value, leading to unexpected behavior in their application. To resolve this, the user can utilize debugging techniques like printing out the variable value, using var_dump(), or setting breakpoints to track the variable's value during runtime. PHP Code Snippet:

// Variable not being assigned properly
$variable = null;

// Debugging technique: print out variable value
echo $variable;

// Debugging technique: var_dump() to inspect variable
var_dump($variable);

// Debugging technique: setting a breakpoint to track variable value during runtime
// Example using Xdebug extension in PHPStorm
// Set a breakpoint at the line where $variable is assigned a value
// Run the script in debug mode and inspect the variable value at the breakpoint