Let’s talk about the various ways to convert time to timestamp in PHP

In PHP, timestamp is usually used to represent a specific point in time. A timestamp is the number of seconds that elapsed between the Unix Epoch (January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC) and a specified time point. It is a time zone-independent representation of time.

In some cases, we need to convert a specific date and time into a timestamp for comparison or other processing. In PHP there are several ways to achieve this. Below, we'll cover some common methods.

Method 1: strtotime

PHP’s strtotime function can convert a human-readable date and time string into a timestamp. The syntax of this function is as follows:

strtotime(string $time [, int $now = time() ])

Among them, the $time parameter is the date and time string that needs to be converted, and the $now parameter is an optional reference time point, which defaults to the current time. The function returns a timestamp.

For example, convert 10:30 am on June 30, 2021 into a timestamp:

<?php
$time_str = "2021-06-30 10:30:00";
$timestamp = strtotime($time_str);
echo $timestamp;

The output result of the above code is:

1625038200

Method 2: DateTime class

PHP's DateTime class is a powerful date and time manipulation tool. It provides a variety of methods to convert date and time into timestamps. The following are examples of two commonly used methods:

1. format and getTimestamp methods

The format method of the DateTime class can format the date and time object into a specified string, where Common formatting parameters are as follows:

• Y: Year, for example: 2021
• m: Month, for example: 06
• d: Day, for example :30
• H: hours, for example: 10
• i: minutes, for example: 30
• s: seconds, for example: 00

## The getTimestamp method of the #DateTime class can convert date and time objects into timestamps. Using the above two methods together, you can convert a datetime object into a timestamp. The following is a sample code:

<?php
$date_str = "2021-06-30 10:30:00";
$date_obj = new DateTime($date_str);
$timestamp = $date_obj->getTimestamp();
echo $timestamp;

The output of the above code is:

1625038200

setTime method and format method

The setTime method of the DateTime class can set the date A time object is set to a specified point in time. Use this method in conjunction with the format method to convert a datetime object into a timestamp. The following is a sample code:

<?php
$date_obj = new DateTime();
$date_obj->setTime(10, 30, 0);
$timestamp = $date_obj->format('U');
echo $timestamp;

The output result of the above code is:

1625038200

Method 3: date function

PHP’s date function can format the timestamp into a specified date Time string. The syntax of this function is as follows:

date(string $format [, int $timestamp = time() ])

Among them, the $format parameter is the date and time format string that needs to be converted into, and the $timestamp parameter is an optional timestamp, which defaults to the current time. The function returns a formatted date and time string.

Use this function in conjunction with a timestamp to convert the timestamp into a date and time string. For example, convert timestamp 1625038200 into a date and time string:

<?php
$timestamp = 1625038200;
$date_str = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $timestamp);
echo $date_str;

The output of the above code is:

2021-06-30 10:30:00

Summary

This article introduces PHP to convert date and time into time Three methods of stamping: strtotime function, DateTime class and date function. Developers can choose the appropriate method for conversion based on specific needs.

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