DateTime::diff

(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7)

Returns the difference between two DateTime objects

public DateInterval DateTime::diff ( DateTimeInterface $datetime2 [, bool $absolute = false ] )

Object oriented style

public DateInterval DateTimeImmutable::diff ( DateTimeInterface $datetime2 [, bool $absolute = false ] )

public DateInterval DateTimeInterface::diff ( DateTimeInterface $datetime2 [, bool $absolute = false ] )

Procedural style

DateInterval date_diff ( DateTimeInterface $datetime1 , DateTimeInterface $datetime2 [, bool $absolute = false ] )

Returns the difference between two DateTimeInterface objects.

Parameters:

datetime

The date to compare to.

absolute

Should the interval be forced to be positive?

Returns:

The DateInterval object representing the difference between the two dates or FALSE on failure.

Examples:

DateTime::diff() example

Object oriented style

<?php
$datetime1 = new DateTime('2009-10-11');
$datetime2 = new DateTime('2009-10-13');
$interval = $datetime1->diff($datetime2);
echo $interval->format('%R%a days');
?>

Procedural style

<?php
$datetime1 = date_create('2009-10-11');
$datetime2 = date_create('2009-10-13');
$interval = date_diff($datetime1, $datetime2);
echo $interval->format('%R%a days');
?>

The above examples will output:

+2 days

DateTime object comparison

Note:

As of PHP 5.2.2, DateTime objects can be compared using comparison operators.

<?php
$date1 = new DateTime("now");
$date2 = new DateTime("tomorrow");
 
var_dump($date1 == $date2);
var_dump($date1 < $date2);
var_dump($date1 > $date2);
?>

The above example will output:

bool(false)
bool(true)
bool(false)