PHP | DateTime diff() Function

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The DateTime::diff() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to return the difference between two given DateTime objects.

Syntax:

Object oriented style:

DateInterval DateTime::diff( DateTimeInterface $datetime2,
                                  bool $absolute = FALSE )

DateInterval DateTimeImmutable::diff( DateTimeInterface $datetime2,
                                  bool $absolute = FALSE )

DateInterval DateTimeInterface::diff( DateTimeInterface $datetime2,
                                  bool $absolute = FALSE )

Procedural style:

DateInterval date_diff( DateTimeInterface $datetime1,
                  DateTimeInterface $datetime2, bool $absolute = FALSE )

Parameters: This function uses two parameters as mentioned above and described below:

$datetime: This parameter holds the date to compare with first date.
$absolute: This parameter forced the interval to be positive.

Return Value: This function return the difference between two given DateTime objects.

Below programs illustrate the DateTime::diff() function in PHP:

Program 1:

<?php 
  
// Initialising the two datetime objects 
$datetime1 = new DateTime('2019-9-10'); 
$datetime2 = new DateTime('2019-9-15'); 
  
// Calling the diff() function on above 
// two DateTime objects 
$difference = $datetime1->diff($datetime2); 
  
// Getting the difference between two 
// given DateTime objects 
echo $difference->format('%R%a days'); 
?> 

Output:

+5 days

Program 2:

<?php 
  
// Initialising the two datetime objects 
$datetime1 = new DateTime('2019-8-10'); 
$datetime2 = new DateTime('2019-9-10'); 
  
// Calling the diff() function on above 
// two DateTime objects 
$difference = $datetime1->diff($datetime2); 
  
// Getting the difference between two 
// given DateTime objects 
echo $difference->format('%R%a days'); 
?> 