What are the best practices for debugging PHP code when comparing variables for equality?

When comparing variables for equality in PHP, it is important to use the strict comparison operator (===) instead of the loose comparison operator (==) to ensure that both the value and data type are the same. This helps to avoid unexpected results due to type coercion. Additionally, using var_dump() or print_r() functions can help to inspect the values of variables during debugging.

$var1 = 10;
$var2 = '10';

// Incorrect comparison using loose comparison operator
if ($var1 == $var2) {
    echo 'Variables are equal';
} else {
    echo 'Variables are not equal';
}

// Correct comparison using strict comparison operator
if ($var1 === $var2) {
    echo 'Variables are equal';
} else {
    echo 'Variables are not equal';
}