How can the date format be converted to ISO format for better comparison in PHP?

When comparing dates in PHP, it's often helpful to convert them to a standard format like ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD) for easier comparison. To convert a date string to ISO format in PHP, you can use the DateTime class to create a DateTime object from the original date string, and then use the format() method to output the date in ISO format.

// Original date string
$dateString = '10/15/2021';

// Create a DateTime object from the original date string
$date = DateTime::createFromFormat('m/d/Y', $dateString);

// Convert the date to ISO format
$isoDate = $date->format('Y-m-d');

echo $isoDate; // Output: 2021-10-15