{"id":2296,"date":"2021-07-13T04:34:06","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T04:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phptutorial.net\/?page_id=2296"},"modified":"2025-04-07T12:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T12:38:17","slug":"php-time","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.phptutorial.net\/php-tutorial\/php-time\/","title":{"rendered":"PHP time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to work with the PHP time()<\/code> function to get the current timestamp in the local timezone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to Unix timestamps #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Computers store a date and time as a UNIX timestamp or a timestamp in short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A timestamp is an integer that refers to the number of seconds between 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (Epoch) and the date and time to be stored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Computers store dates and times as timestamps because it is easier to manipulate an integer. For example, to add one day to a timestamp, it simply adds the number of seconds to the timestamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PHP provides some helpful functions that manipulate timestamps effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting the current time #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To get the current time, you use the time()<\/code> function:<\/p>\n\n\n

function<\/span> time<\/span>()<\/span>: int<\/span><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The time()<\/code> function returns the current UNIX timestamp since Epoch (January 1 1970 00:00:00 GMT). For example:<\/p>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\n\necho<\/span> time(); \/\/ 1626752728<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The return value is a big integer that represents the number of seconds since Epoch. To make the time human-readable, you use the date()<\/code> function. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\n\n$current_time = time();\necho<\/span> date('Y-m-d g:ia'<\/span>, $current_time) . '<br>'<\/span>;<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
2021<\/span>-07<\/span>-13<\/span> 5<\/span>:47<\/span>am<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The date()<\/code> function has two parameters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n