PHP | time() Function

The time() function is a built-in function in PHP which returns the current time measured in the number of seconds since the Unix Epoch. The number of seconds can be converted to the current date using date() function in PHP.

Syntax:

int time()

Parameter: This function does not accepts any parameters as shown above.

Return Value: This function returns the current time measured in the number of seconds since the Unix Epoch.

Note: All output of programs corresponds to the date when the article was written.

Below programs illustrate the time() function:

Program 1: The program below prints the current time in term of seconds.

<?php
// PHP program to demonstrate the use of current
// time in seconds since Unix Epoch

// variable to store the current time in seconds
$currentTimeinSeconds = time();

// prints the current time in seconds
echo $currentTimeinSeconds;
?>

Output:

1525376494

Program 2: The program below prints the current time in date format.

<?php
// PHP program to demonstrate the use of current
// date since Unix Epoch

// variable to store the current time in seconds
$currentTimeinSeconds = time();

// converts the time in seconds to current date
$currentDate = date('Y-m-d', $currentTimeinSeconds);

// prints the current date
echo ($currentDate);
?>

Output:

2018-05-03