MS SQL Server 10 - How can you distinguish between GETDATE and SYSDATETIME functions?

Hello All,

In this article we will look into the difference between GETDATE and SYSDATETIME functions.

The GETDATE() function uses datetime data type and returns the current date, time in the format "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS". Here's an example:

SELECT GETDATE() AS CurrentDateTime;

This will return the current date and time in the following format:

CurrentDateTime
-----------------------
2023-04-05 11:37:59.940

Similarly the SYSDATETIME() function uses datetime2 data type and returns the current date and time in the format "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MI:SS.mmmmmm". 

Here's an example:

SELECT SYSDATETIME() AS CurrentDateTime;

This will return the current date and time in the following format:

CurrentDateTime
----------------------------
2023-04-05 11:37:59.9605381

Note : SYSDATETIME() function provides more precision than GETDATE() function by including the fractional seconds. Also, the precision of SYSDATETIME() function can be adjusted by specifying a precision parameter.