What is the recommended format for storing dates in a MySQL database for easy comparison in PHP?

Storing dates in MySQL using the 'YYYY-MM-DD' format is recommended for easy comparison in PHP. This format allows for straightforward comparison operations like sorting and filtering by date. When retrieving dates from the database in PHP, you can easily manipulate and compare them using built-in functions like strtotime() or DateTime. 

// Storing a date in MySQL database using 'YYYY-MM-DD' format
$date = date('Y-m-d');
$query = "INSERT INTO table_name (date_column) VALUES ('$date')";
// Retrieving and comparing dates in PHP
$query = "SELECT date_column FROM table_name";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    $date = strtotime($row['date_column']);
    if ($date > strtotime('2022-01-01')) {
        echo "Date is after January 1, 2022";
    }
}

Keywords

PHP MySQL date format comparison database storage

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