How can PHP developers effectively handle date formatting and sorting in MySQL queries to ensure accurate data representation in tools like PHPlot?

When handling date formatting and sorting in MySQL queries for accurate data representation in tools like PHPlot, PHP developers should use the DATE_FORMAT() function in MySQL to format dates as needed before retrieving them in PHP. Additionally, developers should ensure that dates are sorted in the correct order using the ORDER BY clause in their SQL queries.

// Example of handling date formatting and sorting in MySQL queries for accurate data representation in PHPlot

// Connect to MySQL database
$connection = mysqli_connect("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Query to retrieve data with formatted date and sorted by date
$query = "SELECT id, DATE_FORMAT(date_column, '%Y-%m-%d') AS formatted_date FROM table_name ORDER BY date_column DESC";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

// Fetch data and display in PHPlot
while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    // Use $row['formatted_date'] in PHPlot for accurate date representation
}

// Close connection
mysqli_close($connection);