How can debugging tools in PHP help identify errors in date comparisons?

When debugging date comparisons in PHP, it is important to use debugging tools like var_dump() or print_r() to display the values being compared. This can help identify any discrepancies in the date formats or values. Additionally, using functions like strtotime() to convert dates to Unix timestamps can simplify the comparison process.

$date1 = '2022-01-01';
$date2 = '2022-01-02';

var_dump(strtotime($date1) < strtotime($date2));