date storage efficiency

[Anon]

hi,
i have a 2 dates with time in them submitted by a user through a form.
is it more efficient to convert it into a unix timestamp and store it in the mysql database and convert it back when i retrieve it, or store it in seperate columns (eg. hour_start, min_start, date, month, year)?

Thanks!

[mrskhris]

unix timestamp can be converted to almost any representation easily. Also, you can sort by this field without problems. IMHO, unix timestamp is the best way.