What are the advantages of using TIMESTAMP over DATETIME in a MySQL database for storing dates in PHP applications?

Using TIMESTAMP over DATETIME in a MySQL database for storing dates in PHP applications has the advantage of automatically updating the timestamp whenever a row is inserted or updated. This can be useful for tracking changes to data. Additionally, TIMESTAMP values are stored in UTC timezone by default, which can simplify handling timezones in your application. 

// Example of creating a table with a TIMESTAMP column in MySQL
$sql = "CREATE TABLE example_table (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
)";

Keywords

TIMESTAMP DATETIME MySQL dates PHP applications

Related Questions