What is the function of the PHP date function?

The date() function in PHP is used to format dates and times and output them as strings. It takes a formatting string as a parameter, which defines the format of the date and time output. This function can be used to retrieve the current date and time, as well as to convert a specific date and time into a specific format string. Common formatting characters include Y (four-digit year), m (month), d (date), H (hour in 24-hour format), i (minutes), s (seconds), etc. The date() function makes it easy to handle the display and manipulation of dates and times.