PHP Date and Time

PHP Date and Time Tutorial

In PHP Date and Time provides built-in functions to work with dates and times. You can display, format, manipulate, and calculate date and time values easily using PHP.

The `date()` Function

The date() function formats a local date and time according to a specified format.

Common Format Characters

Character	Description	Example
`Y`	4-digit year	2025
`y`	2-digit year	25
`m`	Month (01-12)	11
`d`	Day (01-31)	28
`H`	Hour (00-23)	10
`h`	Hour (01-12)	10
`i`	Minutes (00-59)	15
`s`	Seconds (00-59)	30
`a`	am/pm	am
`l`	Full weekday name	Thursday
`D`	Short weekday name	Thu
`F`	Full month name	November
`M`	Short month name	Nov

Displaying the Current Date and Time

Output Example:

Timestamps

A timestamp is the number of seconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC.

Convert timestamp to readable date:

Date Manipulation with `strtotime()`

strtotime() converts a string into a timestamp, which you can format using date().

<?php
$nextWeek = strtotime("+1 week");
echo "Date after one week: " . date("Y-m-d", $nextWeek) . "<br>";

$lastMonth = strtotime("-1 month");
echo "Date one month ago: " . date("Y-m-d", $lastMonth) . "<br>";

$tomorrow = strtotime("tomorrow");
echo "Tomorrow: " . date("Y-m-d", $tomorrow) . "<br>";
?>

<?php

$nextWeek = strtotime("+1 week");

echo "Date after one week: " . date("Y-m-d", $nextWeek) . " ";

$lastMonth = strtotime("-1 month");

echo "Date one month ago: " . date("Y-m-d", $lastMonth) . " ";

$tomorrow = strtotime("tomorrow");

echo "Tomorrow: " . date("Y-m-d", $tomorrow) . " ";

Using `mktime()`

mktime() creates a timestamp for a specific date and time.

Date Difference

PHP `DateTime` Class (Object-Oriented)

<?php
$date = new DateTime("2025-11-28 10:15:30");
echo $date->format("Y-m-d H:i:s") . "<br>";

// Modify date
$date->modify("+1 month");
echo "After one month: " . $date->format("Y-m-d") . "<br>";

// Difference between two dates
$date1 = new DateTime("2025-11-28");
$date2 = new DateTime("2025-12-25");
$diff = $date1->diff($date2);
echo "Difference: " . $diff->days . " days";
?>

<?php

$date = new DateTime("2025-11-28 10:15:30");

echo $date->format("Y-m-d H:i:s") . " ";

// Modify date

$date->modify("+1 month");

echo "After one month: " . $date->format("Y-m-d") . " ";

// Difference between two dates

$date1 = new DateTime("2025-11-28");

$date2 = new DateTime("2025-12-25");

$diff = $date1->diff($date2);

echo "Difference: " . $diff->days . " days";

Summary

Use date() to format current date and time.
time() gives the current timestamp.
strtotime() and mktime() allow date calculations.
DateTime class is modern and flexible for date/time manipulation.
Always set timezone with date_default_timezone_set().

PHP Date and Time

PHP Date and Time Tutorial

The date() Function

Common Format Characters

Displaying the Current Date and Time

Timestamps

Date Manipulation with strtotime()

Using mktime()

Date Difference

PHP DateTime Class (Object-Oriented)

Summary

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