How can PHP developers effectively debug and troubleshoot issues related to session variables and user authentication?

Issue: When debugging session variables and user authentication in PHP, developers can effectively troubleshoot by checking the session status, verifying session variables, and ensuring proper authentication logic is implemented.

// Check session status
session_start();

// Verify session variables
if(isset($_SESSION['user_id'])){
    // User is authenticated, continue with application logic
} else {
    // Redirect user to login page
    header("Location: login.php");
    exit();
}