What are the best practices for working with dates and time functions in PHP?

When working with dates and time functions in PHP, it is important to use the correct date format and time zone to avoid any discrepancies. It is recommended to always set the default time zone using the `date_default_timezone_set()` function to ensure consistent date and time calculations. Additionally, using PHP's built-in date and time functions such as `date()`, `strtotime()`, and `DateTime` class can simplify date and time manipulations.

// Set the default time zone to UTC
date_default_timezone_set('UTC');

// Get the current date and time in a specific format
$currentDateTime = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');

// Calculate a future date by adding 1 day to the current date
$futureDate = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('+1 day'));

// Create a DateTime object and format it
$dateTime = new DateTime('now');
$formattedDateTime = $dateTime->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');