PHP Date and Time Functions

PHP Date & Time Functions – Work with Dates in PHP 🕰️

Ever wondered how websites display the current date, timestamps, or countdown timers? PHP provides powerful functions to handle date and time with ease!

🔹 Getting the Current Date & Time

The date() function formats and returns the current date and time.

<?php
echo "Today's date: " . date("Y-m-d"); // Format: YYYY-MM-DD
?>

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Common date formats:

  • Y-m-d → 2025-04-02
  • d/m/Y → 02/04/2025
  • l, F j, Y → Wednesday, April 2, 2025

🔹 Displaying the Current Time

The date() function can also show time!

<?php
echo "Current time: " . date("h:i:s A"); // Format: 12-hour format with AM/PM
?>

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Time format examples:

  • h:i:s A → 08:30:45 PM
  • H:i:s → 20:30:45 (24-hour format)

🔹 Getting a Timestamp

A timestamp is the number of seconds since **January 1, 1970** (Unix Epoch).

<?php
echo "Current Timestamp: " . time();
?>

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Why use timestamps? They help in comparing dates, storing time in databases, and handling time zones.

🔹 Converting a Timestamp to a Date

We can convert timestamps into human-readable dates using date().

<?php
$timestamp = 1735670400; // Example timestamp
echo "Formatted Date: " . date("Y-m-d H:i:s", $timestamp);
?>

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🔹 Adding & Subtracting Time

We can modify dates using strtotime().

<?php
echo "Tomorrow: " . date("Y-m-d", strtotime("+1 day")) . "<br>";
echo "Next Week: " . date("Y-m-d", strtotime("+1 week")) . "<br>";
echo "Last Month: " . date("Y-m-d", strtotime("-1 month")) . "<br>";
?>

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This is super useful for setting expiration dates, scheduling posts, and more!

🔹 Working with Time Zones

By default, PHP uses the server’s time zone. We can change it using date_default_timezone_set().

<?php
date_default_timezone_set("America/New_York"); // Set time zone
echo "New York Time: " . date("h:i A");
?>

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Some common time zones:

  • Asia/Kolkata → India
  • Europe/London → UK
  • America/New_York → Eastern US

🎯 Key Takeaways

  • date() formats and displays the current date & time.
  • time() returns the current timestamp.
  • strtotime() is used for modifying dates.
  • Always set the correct time zone for accurate results.

📝 Practice Time!

Try setting different time zones and experiment with date formats. Can you display yesterday’s date in a custom format? 🚀