How can PHP's strtotime function be utilized effectively for date calculations and conversions?

PHP's strtotime function can be utilized effectively for date calculations and conversions by accepting a textual date/time description and converting it into a Unix timestamp. This can be useful for tasks like adding or subtracting days, months, or years from a given date, comparing dates, or converting dates between different formats.

// Example: Calculating the date 1 week from today
$nextWeek = strtotime('+1 week');
echo date('Y-m-d', $nextWeek);