What best practices should be followed when comparing dates in PHP?

When comparing dates in PHP, it is important to ensure that the date format is consistent and that the dates are properly converted to a format that allows for accurate comparison. One common approach is to use the strtotime() function to convert dates to Unix timestamps, which can then be compared using comparison operators. Additionally, it is recommended to use the DateTime class for more advanced date manipulation and comparison.

$date1 = strtotime("2022-01-01");
$date2 = strtotime("2022-02-01");

if ($date1 < $date2) {
    echo "Date 1 is before Date 2";
} elseif ($date1 > $date2) {
    echo "Date 1 is after Date 2";
} else {
    echo "Date 1 is equal to Date 2";
}