How can PHP developers effectively debug and troubleshoot session-related errors, such as session entries not being recognized?

Session-related errors, such as session entries not being recognized, can be effectively debugged and troubleshooted by checking if the session is being started before accessing or setting session variables, ensuring that the session id is being properly passed between pages, and verifying that the session data is being stored and retrieved correctly.

<?php
session_start();

// Check if session is started before accessing or setting session variables
if(!isset($_SESSION['user_id'])) {
    $_SESSION['user_id'] = 12345;
}

// Ensure session id is being properly passed between pages
echo session_id();

// Verify session data is being stored and retrieved correctly
echo $_SESSION['user_id'];
?>