Is converting dates to timestamps a more effective method for comparing dates in PHP, especially when dealing with incomplete dates?

When dealing with incomplete dates in PHP, converting dates to timestamps can be a more effective method for comparing dates. Timestamps represent a specific point in time and can be easily compared using arithmetic operations, making it simpler to handle incomplete dates like those with missing months or days.

// Convert incomplete dates to timestamps for comparison
$date1 = strtotime('2021-05'); // Incomplete date with only year and month
$date2 = strtotime('2021-06-15'); // Complete date

if ($date1 < $date2) {
    echo "Date 1 is before Date 2";
} elseif ($date1 > $date2) {
    echo "Date 1 is after Date 2";
} else {
    echo "Date 1 is the same as Date 2";
}