How can timestamps be effectively used in PHP to compare dates and times?

When working with dates and times in PHP, timestamps can be effectively used for comparing dates and times. By converting dates and times to timestamps, you can easily compare them using mathematical operators. This allows for straightforward comparisons such as checking if one date is before or after another.

$date1 = strtotime('2022-01-01');
$date2 = strtotime('2022-01-15');

if ($date1 < $date2) {
    echo 'Date 1 is before Date 2';
} else {
    echo 'Date 1 is after Date 2';
}