How does date_default_timezone_set impact the calculation of time in PHP functions like strtotime()?

When using functions like strtotime() in PHP, the default timezone set in the php.ini file may impact the calculation of time. To ensure accurate time calculations, it's important to set the timezone within your PHP script using the date_default_timezone_set() function. By explicitly setting the timezone, you can avoid discrepancies in time calculations based on the server's default timezone.

// Set the timezone to your desired timezone
date_default_timezone_set('America/New_York');

// Perform time calculations with functions like strtotime()
$timestamp = strtotime('now');
echo date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $timestamp);