In what scenarios would it be recommended to use a timestamp instead of a varchar field for date values in a PHP database?

Using a timestamp instead of a varchar field for date values in a PHP database is recommended when you need to perform date calculations, sorting, or comparisons in your queries. Timestamps store dates in a standardized format and allow for easier manipulation and querying of date values. Additionally, timestamps take up less storage space compared to varchar fields, which can improve database performance. 

// Create a table with a timestamp field for date values
$sql = "CREATE TABLE example_table (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    date_created TIMESTAMP
)";
$conn->query($sql);

Keywords

timestamp varchar field date values PHP database scenarios

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