NOW, CURDATE, CURTIME in MySQL - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ query_result

intermediate

What does the query return?

Consider the query:

SELECT CURDATE();

What is the output format of this query?

MySQL

SELECT CURDATE();

A A string in 'HH:MM:SS' format representing current time

B A string in 'YYYY-MM-DD' format representing today's date

C A datetime value including date and time

D An integer representing the current timestamp

💡 Hint

CURDATE() returns only the date part, not time.

CURDATE() returns the current date as a string in 'YYYY-MM-DD' format without time.

❓ query_result

intermediate

What is the output of NOW()?

Given the query:

SELECT NOW();

What does this function return?

MySQL

SELECT NOW();

A Only the current time in 'HH:MM:SS' format

B Only the current date in 'YYYY-MM-DD' format

C The current date and time as a datetime value in 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' format

D The Unix timestamp as an integer

💡 Hint

NOW() returns both date and time.

NOW() returns the current date and time as a datetime string like '2024-06-15 14:30:00'.

❓ query_result

advanced

What is the output of CURTIME()?

What does the query below return?

SELECT CURTIME();

MySQL

SELECT CURTIME();

A The current time as a string in 'HH:MM:SS' format

B The current date as a string in 'YYYY-MM-DD' format

C The current date and time as a datetime value

D The current Unix timestamp as an integer

💡 Hint

CURTIME() returns only the time part.

CURTIME() returns the current time as a string like '14:30:00'.

🧠 Conceptual

advanced

Difference between NOW() and CURDATE()

Which statement correctly describes the difference between NOW() and CURDATE() in MySQL?

A NOW() returns current date and time; CURDATE() returns only the current date

B NOW() returns only the current time; CURDATE() returns current date and time

C NOW() returns Unix timestamp; CURDATE() returns date as string

D NOW() returns only the current date; CURDATE() returns only the current time

💡 Hint

Think about what each function returns: date, time, or both.

NOW() returns both date and time, while CURDATE() returns only the date part.

📝 Syntax

expert

Which query will cause an error?

Identify which of the following queries will cause a syntax error in MySQL.

A SELECT NOW();

B SELECT CURDATE();

C SELECT CURTIME();

D SELECT NOW(5);

💡 Hint

Check if NOW() accepts any arguments.

NOW() does not accept any arguments; passing (5) causes a syntax error.