What are some recommended debugging techniques for PHP developers encountering MySQL errors?

When encountering MySQL errors in PHP, one recommended debugging technique is to enable error reporting to see detailed error messages. This can be done by setting the error_reporting and display_errors directives in the php.ini file. Additionally, using functions like mysqli_error() or PDO::errorInfo() can help identify the specific cause of the error.

// Enable error reporting
ini_set('display_errors', 1);
ini_set('display_startup_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

// Example using mysqli_error()
$conn = mysqli_connect("localhost", "username", "password", "database");
if (!$conn) {
    die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error());
}