What is the significance of the second parameter in the PHP function date() when formatting a timestamp?

The second parameter in the PHP function date() is used to specify the timestamp that you want to format. This parameter allows you to pass a specific timestamp value, such as the current time or a custom timestamp, for the function to format according to the format string provided in the first parameter.

// Example of using the date() function with a specific timestamp
$timestamp = strtotime('2022-01-01 12:00:00');
$formatted_date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $timestamp);
echo $formatted_date;