Difference in speed?
Best practices?
Personal preference?
thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Formatting in Mysql is the best and fastest way. Mysql is basically built to do this specifically, it's also lower in the operating system hierarchy meaning that it takes less time to execute. If you need to pull out formatted dates, numbers or strings make Mysql do it. There is rarely an occasion where it is better to have PHP do your formatting, PHP should receive the data formatted as you want it.

I had personal training from Chris Shiflett, a core programmer on the Zend II engine and this is one of the tips he gave me.

Pardon to interrupt, but I don't know what are you guys talking. Meaning, I know PHP, and I know MySQL but I don't know what are you talking. Did I miss something? Just for my curiosity and for the sake of learning, could you show me an example of what you are saying. Like, what does it look like in MySQL and what does it look like in PHP.

Instead of using the date function in php..
http://www.php.net/date

You use the date function in mysql
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/dat...ion_date-format

While it is quicker to use a mysql formatting function it also ties your application to a certain type of database. This means that if you are running a site on MySQL and you want to port your site to something else you are going to have to rewrite those queries.

I always write it into the mysql db as an int(11) unix timestamp. So you say that's not the best way to go?