- date: documentation ( source)
<?php
$row = [
'sub_date' => '2016-08-29',
'due_date' => '08-23'
];
$duedate = new DateTime(date("Y")."-".$row['due_date']);
$submitdate = new DateTime($row['sub_date']);
echo $duedate->diff($submitdate)->format("%R%a days");