Is it recommended to convert dates from the database directly in the date() function in PHP?

When working with dates retrieved from a database in PHP, it is recommended to convert them to a Unix timestamp before using them in the date() function. This ensures that the date is in a format that the date() function can properly handle. To convert a date from the database to a Unix timestamp, you can use strtotime() function in PHP.

// Retrieve date from the database
$db_date = "2022-01-15";

// Convert database date to Unix timestamp
$unix_timestamp = strtotime($db_date);

// Format the Unix timestamp using date() function
$formatted_date = date("Y-m-d", $unix_timestamp);

echo $formatted_date; // Output: 2022-01-15