Use PHP's date and time functions to improve development skills

Whether they are accustomed to displaying the current server time or logging the next instance of a database entry, PHP's date and time functions are an important part of their toolkit for any network developer.

But any tool needs a person to dominate to play the advantage.

That's why I wrote this article. The following table ( table A) lists some of the most important date and time functions in PHP and provides clear instructions for using them.

Keep reading, you will learn something new!

Table A

Function	Description	Instance
checkdate ($month, ?date, $year)	check the date and make the date effective before the date is calculated or saved in the database.	<?php //returns false echo checkdate (2,30,2005)? "valid": "invalid"; &NBSP; //returns True echo checkdate (4,6,2010)? "Valid": "invalid"; ?>
getdate ($ts)	applies this function to obtain a series of discrete, easily separated date/time values.	<?php // Timestamp for 13:15:23 7-jun-2006 echo mktime ( 13,15,23,6,7,2006); ?>
mktime ($hour, $month, $day, $year)	getdate () : It generates a UNIX time label from a series of date and time values (the number of seconds from GMT January 1, 1970 to the current elapsed). When the argument is not used, it generates the UNIX time label for the current time. The uses this function to get the UNIX time label for the instant time. This time tag is commonly used in many database and program languages.	<?php // Timestamp for 13:15:23 7-jun-2006 echo mktime ( 13,15,23,6,7,2006); ?>
date ($format, $ts)	to display the formatted time or date.	<?php //format Current date //returns "13-sep-2005 01:16 PM" echo date ("D-m-y h:i A") Mktime ?>
strtotime ($STR)	applies this function to convert non-standard date/time strings into standard, compatible Unix time labels.	<?php //returns 13- Sep-05 echo date ("D-m-y", strtotime ("Today")); &NBSP; //returns 14-sep-05 echo date ("D-m-y", strtotime ("Tomorrow")); &NBSP; //returns 16-sep-05 echo date ("D-m-y", Strtotime ("Today +3 days")); ?>
strftime ($format, ?ts)	applies this function to establish a date string that is compatible with the current environment.	<?php //set locale to France (on windows) setlocale (Lc_time, "Fra_fra"); &NBSP; //format month/day names //as per locale setting //returns "septembre" and "mardi" echo strftime ("Month:%B"); echo strftime ("Day:%A"); ?>
microtime ()	< P class= "Style2" This function returns the number of seconds and microseconds elapsed between GMT time January 1, 1970 and now. The applies this function when a datum-specific block of code accurately measures its execution time.	<?php //get starting Value $start = Microtime (); &NBSP; //run some code for ($x =0; $x <1000; $x + +) { 牋? $null = $x * $x; } &NBSP; //get ending value $ End = Microtime (); &NBSP; //calculate time taken for code execution echo "Elapsed Time:". ($end- &NBSP; $start). " SEC "; ?>
gmmktime ($hour, $minute, $second, $month, $day, $year)	uses this function to obtain the UNIX time label for GMT Instant time.	<?php // Timestamp for 12:25:23 9-jul-2006 echo (12,25,23,7,9,2006); ?>
gmdate ($format, $ts)	applies this function when it represents a time label with GMT.	<?php //format Current date into GMT //returns "13-sep-2005 08:32 am" echo gmdate ("D-m-y h:i A", mktime ()); ?>
Date_default_ Timezone_set ($tz) and Date_default_ Timezone_get ()	This function then all the date/time function calls set and restores the default time zone. Note : This function is valid only in PHP 5.1+.   This function is a convenient shortcut for setting a time zone for future time operations.	<?php Set TimeZone to UTC Date_default_timezone_set (' UTC '); ?>