How can developers effectively debug SQL queries in PHP applications to identify and resolve errors?

To effectively debug SQL queries in PHP applications, developers can use tools like var_dump() or print_r() to display the query results and check for errors. They can also enable error reporting to catch any syntax or logic errors in the queries. Additionally, developers can echo out the SQL queries to ensure they are being constructed correctly before execution.

// Enable error reporting
error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', 1);

// Construct and execute SQL query
$query = "SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_name = 'value'";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

// Check for errors
if (!$result) {
    echo "Error: " . mysqli_error($connection);
} else {
    // Display query results
    while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
        var_dump($row);
    }
}