In what situations would it be advisable to store dates and times as integers (timestamps) in a MySQL database, and how does this impact date calculations and manipulations in PHP?

Storing dates and times as integers (timestamps) in a MySQL database is advisable when you need to perform date calculations or manipulations efficiently. This approach allows for easier sorting, filtering, and comparison of dates in SQL queries. In PHP, timestamps can be easily manipulated using built-in functions like date() and strtotime(). 

// Storing a timestamp in MySQL database
$timestamp = time(); // Get current timestamp
$query = "INSERT INTO table_name (timestamp_column) VALUES ($timestamp)";
// Perform the database query

// Retrieving and manipulating timestamp in PHP
$query = "SELECT timestamp_column FROM table_name WHERE id = 1";
// Perform the database query and fetch the result
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
$timestamp = $row['timestamp_column'];

// Convert timestamp to date
$date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $timestamp);

// Add 1 day to the timestamp
$new_timestamp = strtotime('+1 day', $timestamp);

Keywords

MySQL timestamps integers date calculations PHP

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