How can one effectively troubleshoot and debug socket-related problems in PHP?

To effectively troubleshoot and debug socket-related problems in PHP, you can start by checking for common issues such as incorrect host or port settings, firewall restrictions, or network connectivity problems. You can use functions like `socket_create`, `socket_connect`, and `socket_last_error` to diagnose and handle errors in your socket code.

$socket = socket_create(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, SOL_TCP);
if ($socket === false) {
    $error = socket_last_error();
    // handle error
} else {
    if (!socket_connect($socket, '127.0.0.1', 8080)) {
        $error = socket_last_error();
        // handle connection error
    } else {
        // socket connection successful, continue with sending/receiving data
    }
}