In the context of PHP development, what are the advantages of using the MySQL function NOW() over time() for timestamp comparisons?

When comparing timestamps in PHP development, using the MySQL function NOW() is advantageous over time() because NOW() returns the current date and time in the format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS, which is directly compatible with MySQL datetime fields. This eliminates the need for additional formatting or conversions when comparing timestamps in MySQL queries. 

// Using NOW() in MySQL query for timestamp comparison
$query = "SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE timestamp_field <= NOW()";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

Keywords

PHP MySQL NOW() time() timestamp

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