Are there any best practices for using the NOW() function in PHP to ensure accurate time representation?

When using the NOW() function in PHP to get the current timestamp, it is important to ensure that the server's timezone is correctly set to avoid any discrepancies in time representation. One best practice is to explicitly set the timezone in your PHP script using the date_default_timezone_set() function to ensure accurate time representation.

// Set the timezone to your desired location
date_default_timezone_set('America/New_York');

// Get the current timestamp using the NOW() function
$current_time = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('now'));

echo $current_time;