What best practice should be followed when selecting and handling date values in PHP forms?

When selecting and handling date values in PHP forms, it is important to ensure that the date format is consistent and valid. This can be achieved by using HTML date input fields with the "YYYY-MM-DD" format and validating the input on the server side using PHP. Additionally, it is recommended to sanitize and validate the date input to prevent any potential security vulnerabilities.

// Example of handling date input from a form
$date = $_POST['date'];

// Validate date format
if (preg_match("/^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$/", $date)) {
    // Date format is valid, proceed with processing
    echo "Date is valid: " . $date;
} else {
    // Date format is invalid, display error message
    echo "Invalid date format";
}