Are there any best practices for handling file modification dates in PHP to ensure accuracy and efficiency?

When working with file modification dates in PHP, it is important to ensure accuracy and efficiency by handling time zones properly and using the correct functions to manipulate and compare dates. One common issue is that file modification dates may not be accurate if the server's time zone is not set correctly or if the file system and PHP are using different time zones. To solve this, it is recommended to always set the correct time zone in PHP and use functions like `filemtime()` to get the modification time of a file.

// Set the default time zone
date_default_timezone_set('UTC');

// Get the modification time of a file
$modification_time = filemtime('example.txt');

// Format the modification time
$formatted_time = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $modification_time);

echo 'Last modified: ' . $formatted_time;