How can the DateTime class in PHP be utilized to efficiently handle date calculations and avoid manual integer conversions and calculations?

When working with dates in PHP, using the DateTime class can greatly simplify date calculations and avoid the need for manual integer conversions and calculations. By utilizing the methods provided by the DateTime class, such as add() and diff(), you can easily perform operations like adding or subtracting days, months, or years, as well as calculating the difference between two dates.

// Create two DateTime objects
$date1 = new DateTime('2022-01-01');
$date2 = new DateTime('2022-01-10');

// Calculate the difference between the two dates
$interval = $date1->diff($date2);

// Output the difference in days
echo $interval->format('%R%a days');