What are some best practices for handling timestamps in MySQL databases for time-sensitive actions in PHP applications?

When handling timestamps in MySQL databases for time-sensitive actions in PHP applications, it is best practice to store timestamps in UTC format to ensure consistency across different time zones. This helps avoid confusion and inconsistencies when dealing with time-sensitive data. Additionally, always use PHP's DateTime class to manipulate and format timestamps to ensure accurate and reliable time calculations. 

// Set the default timezone to UTC
date_default_timezone_set('UTC');

// Get the current timestamp in UTC format
$timestamp = new DateTime('now', new DateTimeZone('UTC'));
$utc_timestamp = $timestamp->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');

// Insert the UTC timestamp into the MySQL database
$query = "INSERT INTO table_name (timestamp_column) VALUES ('$utc_timestamp')";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

// Retrieve and display the UTC timestamp from the database
$query = "SELECT timestamp_column FROM table_name WHERE id = 1";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);
$row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result);
$timestamp = new DateTime($row['timestamp_column'], new DateTimeZone('UTC'));
echo $timestamp->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');

Keywords

MySQL timestamps time-sensitive actions PHP applications best practices

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