Date and Time

Summary

This chapter covered quite a bit of material, beginning with an overview of several date and time functions that appear almost daily in typical PHP programming tasks. Next up was a journey into the ancient art of Date Fu, where you learned how to combine the capabilities of these functions to carry out useful chronological tasks. We also covered the useful Calendar PEAR package, where you learned how to create grid-based calendars, and both validation and navigation mechanisms. Finally, for those readers living on the frayed edges of emerging technology, an introduction to PHP 5.1’s new date-manipulation features was provided.

The next chapter is focused on the topic that is likely responsible for piquing your interest in learning more about PHP: user interactivity. We’ll jump into data processing via forms, demonstrating both basic features and advanced topics such as how to work with multivalued form components and automated form generation. You’ll also learn how to facilitate user navigation by creating breadcrumb navigation trails and custom 404 messages.