Is it advisable to use Julian date instead of timestamps for date calculations in PHP?

Using Julian dates instead of timestamps for date calculations in PHP can be advantageous in certain scenarios where you need to perform date arithmetic without worrying about timezones or daylight saving time changes. Julian dates are a continuous count of days since a starting point, making them easier to work with for certain date calculations. However, it's essential to note that Julian dates do not account for time of day, so they may not be suitable for all use cases where precise timestamps are required.

// Convert a timestamp to Julian date
function timestampToJulian($timestamp) {
    return floor($timestamp / 86400) + 2440587.5;
}

// Convert a Julian date to timestamp
function julianToTimestamp($julian) {
    return ($julian - 2440587.5) * 86400;
}

// Example usage
$timestamp = time();
$julianDate = timestampToJulian($timestamp);
echo "Julian date: $julianDate\n";

$newTimestamp = julianToTimestamp($julianDate);
echo "Converted timestamp: $newTimestamp\n";