What are the potential pitfalls of relying on database-side formatting versus handling date formatting in PHP when working with date periods?
Relying on database-side formatting for date periods can limit the flexibility and customization options available compared to handling date formatting in PHP. It can also make debugging and troubleshooting more challenging as the formatting logic is distributed between the database and PHP code. To address this, it is recommended to handle date formatting in PHP to have more control over the output and ensure consistency throughout the application.
// Fetch date periods from the database
$startDate = $row['start_date'];
$endDate = $row['end_date'];
// Format date periods in PHP
$formattedStartDate = date('Y-m-d', strtotime($startDate));
$formattedEndDate = date('Y-m-d', strtotime($endDate));
// Output formatted date periods
echo "Start Date: " . $formattedStartDate . "<br>";
echo "End Date: " . $formattedEndDate;