PHP date

Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the PHP date() function to format a timestamp using a specified format.

Introduction to the PHP date() function

The date() function formats a timestamp using a specified format:

date(string $format, int|null $timestamp = null): stringCode language: PHP (php)

The date() function has two parameters:

• $format is a string that determines how the $timestamp should be formatted.
• $timestamp is an Unix timestamp. The $timestamp parameter is optional. If you omit the $timestamp or use null, the it will default to the current timestamp. In other words, it defaults to the value of the time() function.

The date() function returns the formatted date string.

PHP date format parameters

To format a date, you use the following date format parameters:

PHP date() function examples

Let’s take some practical examples of using the date() function.

1) Using the PHP date() function to show the current year example

The following example uses the date() function to show how to display the current year:

<?php

    echo date('Y');Code language: PHP (php)

This is useful especially when you want to display the copyright on the footer of a website or a web application:

<p>Copyright &copy; <?php echo date('Y') ?> - by phptutorial.net. All rights reserved.</p>Code language: PHP (php)

2) Using the date() function to format a date for the MySQL database

To insert a date into a datetime column in the MySQL database, you use the following date format:

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SSCode language: PHP (php)

In PHP, it’s equivalent to the following format:

Y-m-d H:i:sCode language: PHP (php)

For example:

<?php

$created_at = date("Y-m-d H:i:s");
echo $created_at;Code language: PHP (php)

Output:

2021-07-14 13:03:08Code language: PHP (php)

Summary

• Use the PHP date() function to format a timestamp in a specified format.