What are the potential pitfalls of not converting dates to Unix timestamps early in PHP programming?
Not converting dates to Unix timestamps early in PHP programming can lead to issues when comparing or manipulating dates, as different date formats can cause unexpected results. To avoid this, it is recommended to convert dates to Unix timestamps early on in the programming process, as Unix timestamps provide a standardized way to represent dates and times.
// Convert a date to a Unix timestamp
$date = '2022-01-01';
$timestamp = strtotime($date);
echo $timestamp;