String date current date/time?

Question

I am using $date = date("D M d, Y G:i");.

When I echo $date, it shows the correct date/time. Now I need this as an string.

I have tried string($date); but nothing happens here. And

$today = strtotime($date); 

here I get weird numbers..

I need a string so I can put $today in a message.

What is the correct method for this?

Answer 1

The date() function already returns a string.

Doing this :

$date = date("D M d, Y G:i");

You'll have the current date in the $date variable, as a string -- no need for any additional operation.

Answer 2

If you like working with objects you can do this:

$date = new \DateTime('now');
echo $date->format('D M d, Y G:i');