Difference between CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and GETDATE()

sql-server ansi-sql
mehdi lotfi picture mehdi lotfi · Jun 15, 2014 · Viewed 28.3k times · Source

What is the difference between CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and GETDATE() in SQL Server?

SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, GETDATE()

Answer

Luke Peterson picture Luke Peterson · Jun 15, 2014

CURRENT_TIMESTAMP is an ANSI SQL function whereas GETDATE is the T-SQL version of that same function.

One interesting thing to note however, is that CURRENT_TIMESTAMP is converted to GETDATE() when creating the object within SSMS. Both functions retrieve their value from the operating system in the same way.

CURRENT_TIMESTAMP is the recommended usage because it is portable to any ANSI compliant database, where as GETDATE() is not.

EDIT - About performance - there is no difference between the two because SQL-SERVER engine is converting CURRENT_TIMESTAMP to GETDATE() so you are actually using GETDATE().

see here and here

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