- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- preg_match: documentation ( source)
<?php
var_dump(preg_match('%\A(?:(19|20)[0-9]{2}[- /.](0[1-9]|1[012])[- /.](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))\Z%', "asdf"));
var_dump(preg_match('%\A(?:(19|20)[0-9]{2}[- /.](0[1-9]|1[012])[- /.](0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))\Z%', "2013-01-01"));