How long the time funtion works in php

Question

Is php date() and time() function works between the years 1901-2038. What function will I use for my long based projects. or I am wrong?

Answer 1

The timestamp only wraps around after January 19, 2038 on 32-bit systems. On 64-bit systems, this is not an issue, since most 64-bit operating systems use signed 64-bit integers for storing the timestamp. (With signed 64-bit integers, the timestamp wraps around on December 4, 292,277,026,596 AD.)

By 2038, I'd bet that most computer systems will be running on 64-bit architecture (at least), so it probably won't be a problem in the long run. Besides, there's nothing you yourself can do about it—it's an issue with the underlying operating system and processor architecture, not the code you write.

Answer 2

You can always use the PEAR::Date class, it can be used for dates before 1970 and after 2038.

Example:

require_once 'Date.php';

$longAgo = new Date('1813-02-23T05:34:23');

echo $longAgo->getTime();
echo $longAgo->getDate();

Maybe also the The DateTime class can do it!?