There are two ways to get the current timestamp in PHP: 1. Use the time() function, which directly returns the current Unix timestamp, which is efficient and suitable for most scenarios; 2. Use the strtotime() function, and you can also get the current timestamp by passing in "now" or not passing parameters. This method is more flexible and suitable for handling relative times such as "Tomorrow's current moment", but you need to pay attention to errors when dealing with non-standard date formats; in addition, no matter which method is used, it is recommended to set the time zone through date_default_timezone_set() to avoid result deviations and warning problems caused by the server's default time zone.
Getting the current timestamp in PHP is actually very simple. The main functions are time()
and strtotime()
. Next I will directly talk about the key points and not turn around.

Use time()
function to get the current time stamp
This is the most commonly used and direct way. time()
returns the current Unix timestamp, which is the number of seconds from 00:00:00 UTC on January 1, 1970 to the present.

echo time();
This method has little extra overhead and is efficient and suitable for most scenarios. If you just want to get the current timestamp for comparison, calculation or logging, use this.
Use strtotime()
to get the current timestamp
Although strtotime()
is mainly used to parse strings into timestamps, you can get the current timestamp if you pass in "now"
or not pass parameters:

echo strtotime("now"); // Or echo strtotime();
This method is a little more flexible. For example, if you want to get the timestamp of "this time tomorrow", you can write it as:
echo strtotime(" 1 day");
It should be noted, however, that strtotime()
may make errors when dealing with complex formats, especially date strings in non-standard formats.
Pay attention to time zone issues
PHP uses the server's time zone settings by default, but sometimes it causes the retrieved timestamp to not meet expectations. You can manually set the time zone through date_default_timezone_set()
:
date_default_timezone_set('Asia/Shanghai'); echo time(); // The output is the time stamp based on the East Eighth District
If you do not set the time zone, some versions of PHP may report warning, and the result may not be what you want, so it is recommended to add the time zone setting from the beginning.
Basically that's it. Both methods can be used. time()
is recommended in simple scenarios. When you need to flexibly process time, you can use strtotime()
. Remember to set the time zone, otherwise it will be easy to get stuck.
The above is the detailed content of php get current timestamp. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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