Calculating the Time Difference between Two Dates in Seconds

Calculating the difference between two dates in seconds can be useful in various scenarios. This article aims to provide a clear solution for this task, addressing the challenges faced in previous Stack Overflow discussions.

To determine the time span between two dates, such as "2011-05-12 18:20:20" and "2011-05-13 18:20:20," you can utilize the strtotime() function. This function converts a date and time string into a UNIX timestamp, which is the number of seconds since the UNIX epoch (January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC).

The following PHP code demonstrates how to calculate the difference in seconds:

$timeFirst = strtotime('2011-05-12 18:20:20');
$timeSecond = strtotime('2011-05-13 18:20:20');
$differenceInSeconds = $timeSecond - $timeFirst;

The result stored in $differenceInSeconds represents the time span between the two dates in seconds. For instance, if the first date is May 12, 2011 at 6:20:20 PM and the second date is May 13, 2011 at 6:20:20 PM, the calculation will yield 86400 seconds, equivalent to 24 hours.

Similarly, if the first date is May 13, 2011 at 11:59:20 AM and the second date is May 13, 2011 at 12:00:20 PM, the result will be 60 seconds.

By obtaining the time difference in seconds, you can further convert it into minutes, hours, days, or any other desired time unit.