Are there any potential pitfalls to be aware of when handling birthdates in PHP?

One potential pitfall when handling birthdates in PHP is ensuring that the input is properly validated to prevent incorrect or malicious data from being entered. It is important to validate the format of the birthdate and ensure that it falls within a reasonable range. Additionally, when storing birthdates in a database, it is recommended to use a date type column to ensure proper handling of date values. 

// Validate birthdate format and range
$birthdate = '2000-01-01';
if (DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d', $birthdate) === false) {
    echo 'Invalid birthdate format';
}

$minDate = new DateTime('1900-01-01');
$maxDate = new DateTime('now');
$birthdateDate = new DateTime($birthdate);
if ($birthdateDate < $minDate || $birthdateDate > $maxDate) {
    echo 'Birthdate must be between 1900-01-01 and current date';
}

// Store birthdate in database using date type column
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (birthdate) VALUES (:birthdate)");
$stmt->bindParam(':birthdate', $birthdate, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$stmt->execute();

Keywords

date validation strtotime function DateTime class timezone handling SQL injection

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