The diff Method of the DateTime Class

The diff method of the DateTime class takes another DateTime object as a parameter and returns a DateInterval object containing the difference between the dates. The difference can be obtained in various units (days, months, years, etc.).

Syntax

php$interval = $datetime1->diff($datetime2);

Example

Let's calculate the difference between two dates:

php<?php
  $date1 = new DateTime('2023-01-01');
  $date2 = new DateTime('2023-02-15');
  $interval = $date1->diff($date2);
  echo $interval->format('%R%a days');
?>

Code execution result:

php'+45 days'

Example

Get the difference in months and days:

php<?php
  $date1 = new DateTime('2023-03-10');
  $date2 = new DateTime('2023-05-25');
  $interval = $date1->diff($date2);
  echo $interval->format('%m months %d days');
?>

Code execution result:

php'2 months 15 days'

Example

Date comparison including time:

php<?php
  $date1 = new DateTime('2023-01-01 10:00:00');
  $date2 = new DateTime('2023-01-01 14:30:00');
  $interval = $date1->diff($date2);
  echo $interval->format('%h hours %i minutes');
?>

Code execution result:

php'4 hours 30 minutes'

See Also