How can PHP developers effectively troubleshoot and debug issues in their scripts?

To effectively troubleshoot and debug PHP scripts, developers can use tools like Xdebug for step-by-step debugging, log files for tracking errors, and var_dump() or print_r() functions for inspecting variables. By isolating the issue, checking syntax errors, and testing small parts of the code at a time, developers can identify and resolve problems efficiently.

// Example code snippet using var_dump() to inspect variables
$variable = "Hello World";
var_dump($variable);