What are the potential pitfalls of using setlocale() with date functions in PHP?

Using setlocale() with date functions in PHP can lead to unexpected behavior and errors, as it can affect the formatting of dates and times based on the system's locale settings. To avoid these pitfalls, it's recommended to use the DateTime class in PHP, which allows you to specify the desired timezone and format explicitly, ensuring consistent results across different environments.

$date = new DateTime();
$date->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone('America/New_York'));
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');