Why is it recommended to use NOW() instead of time() in SQL queries when working with PHP?

Using NOW() instead of time() in SQL queries is recommended because NOW() returns the current date and time in the format 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS', which is the standard SQL datetime format. This ensures consistency and compatibility across different database systems. On the other hand, time() function in PHP returns a Unix timestamp, which may need to be converted to the appropriate datetime format before being used in SQL queries.

// Using NOW() in SQL query
$sql = "INSERT INTO table_name (column_name) VALUES (NOW())";