Can the time() function in PHP be considered a pure function that does not affect external state and does not use global variables?

The time() function in PHP cannot be considered a pure function, even though it does not use global variables or modify them directly. A pure function should return the same result for the same inputs and have no side effects.

time() returns the current time in seconds since the epoch, meaning its result depends on external state (system time) and changes with each call. Therefore, it is not a pure function.