How can PHP developers effectively troubleshoot issues with shell commands not returning expected results?

Issue: PHP developers can troubleshoot issues with shell commands not returning expected results by checking for errors in the command execution, ensuring proper command syntax, and verifying that the necessary permissions are set for the command to run successfully.

// Example PHP code snippet to troubleshoot shell command issues

$command = 'ls -l'; // Example shell command
$output = shell_exec($command);

if ($output === null) {
    echo "Error executing command: " . $command;
} else {
    echo "Command output: " . $output;
}