why is a @ symbol required for some DateTime objects in php

Question

When creating a DateTime object with a unix timestamp, why does a '@' symbol need to precede the time stamp?

Answer 1

As far as I know it is so that the timestamp can be identified from other valid formats.

http://www.php.net/manual/en/datetime.formats.php

unix timestamp is under the compound formats.

Answer 2

It's been quite long since the question is asked, but if anyone still looking for the answer and landed on this question. Then here's it is.

Using '@' symbol

echo date("dS M Y \\@\\ g:ia");
// 18th Jun 2020 @ 4:20pm

Using 'at' text

echo date("dS M Y \\a\\t g:ia");
// 18th Jun 2020 at 4:20pm

Using 'and' text

echo date("dS M Y \\a\\n\\d g:ia");
// 18th Jun 2020 and 4:20pm