How to work with timestamps in PHP?
Use time() to get the current timestamp, date() formats the time, and strtotime() converts the date string to a timestamp. It is recommended that the DateTime class handles time zone and date operations for complex operations.
Working with timestamps in PHP is straightforward thanks to built-in functions and the DateTime class. Timestamps are typically represented as Unix timestamps — the number of seconds since January 1, 1970 (UTC). Here's how to handle common tasks effectively.
Get Current Timestamp
To get the current Unix timestamp, use the time() function.
$now = time(); echo $now; // Outputs something like: 1715000000
This gives you an integer you can store or compare.
Convert Timestamp to Readable Date
Use date() to format a timestamp into a human-readable string.
$timestamp = time();
$formatted = date('Ymd H:i:s', $timestamp);
echo $formatted; // Outputs: 2024-05-06 14:30:22
The first argument defines the format. Common format characters include:
- Y – 4-digit year
- m – Month with leading zero
- d – Day with leading zero
- H – 24-hour format hour
- i – Minutes with leading zero
- s – Seconds with leading zero
Convert Date to Timestamp
If you have a date string, use strtotime() to convert it to a Unix timestamp.
$dateString = "2024-05-06 14:30:00"; $timestamp = strtotime($dateString); echo $timestamp; // Outputs: 1715000000
This function parses many formats, including relative strings like "next Monday" or " 1 week".
Use DateTime for More Control
For complex operations, the DateTime class is more powerful and timezone-aware.
$datetime = new DateTime('2024-05-06 14:30:00', new DateTimeZone('UTC'));
echo $datetime->getTimestamp(); // Get Unix timestamp
echo $datetime->format('Ymd H:i:s'); // Format output
You can also modify dates:
$datetime->modify(' 1 day');
$datetime->add(new DateInterval('P1Y2M')); // Add 1 year and 2 months
DateTime handles timezones properly, which is cruel when working with users in different regions.
Basically, use time() and date() for simple cases, and switch to DateTime when you need timezone support, date math, or parsing varied formats. It's not complex, but easy to get wrong without attention to timezone context.
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