[Rector Rule] Replace date, strtotime, and time calls with Carbon equivalents

[gollumeo]

Related issue

Closes #8695

Description

This PR adds a Rector rule to replace certain native PHP date/time function calls with Carbon equivalents. The conversions are based on the examples provided in the original issue

Implemented changes

• date('format', strotime(...)) → Carbon::parse(...)->format('format')
• strtotime($date) → Carbon::parse($date)->timestamp
• time() - (60 * 60 * 24 * 14) → Carbon::now()->subWeeks(2)->timestamp

Code examples

Before

$dateFormatted = date('d.m.Y', strtotime($invoice->getDate()));
$timestamp = strtotime('2025-02-20');
$twoWeeksAgo = time() - (60 * 60 * 24 * 14);

After

$dateFormatted = \Carbon\Carbon::parse($invoice->getDate())->format('d.m.Y');
$timestamp = \Carbon\Carbon::parse('2025-02-20')->timestamp;
$twoWeeksAgo = \Carbon\Carbon::now()->subWeeks(2)->timestamp;

Tests & validation

• Added unit tests for each transformation, using these fixtures:
  • strtotime.php.inc
  • date_with_strtotime.php.inc
  • time_calculation.php.inc
  • simple_date.php.inc
• Validated conversions using PHPUnit
  

Notes

• The rule detects nested calls (e.g., date('format', strtotime(...)) and applies the correct Carbon replacement
• Supports time calculations that are multiples of common time units (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks)
• The rule ensures backward compatibility by strictly replacing only the targeted patterns

Looking forward to any suggestions or improvements! Let me know if there's anything else I should adjust 😁

[samsonasik]

/cc @melbings @kylekatarnls could you verify this change? Thank you.

[samsonasik]

Thank you @kylekatarnls @gollumeo , let's give it a try 👍

[johnbacon]

We're seeing an issue at times with this –

Before

date('Y', $pricing->timestamp) . ')

After

Carbon::now()->format('Y')

$pricing->timestamp is a model property that's returned as a Carbon object. We saw the same thing happen on another model property that's returned as a Carbon object.

For this reason, we don't feel comfortable enabling this going forward, as it would break functionality. But if this can be addressed, it's a great feature!

[kylekatarnls]

I don't get the case: if date function has 2 arguments, it will not use Carbon::now(), can you create a minimalist file to reproduce the issue and show the code you actually get when running the rule on this file?

[github-actions]

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