jasona.work (5/22/2015)

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Jeff Moden (6/6/2014)

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thomashohner (6/6/2014)

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kimberly_lehman (6/6/2014)

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Ask "Using T-SQL, how do you get the current date and time"?

So would you consider this a valid answer? "I think it's CURRENT TIMESTAMP but if I was blanking on it I'd google it to be sure."

I've worked with so many language that sometimes I mix them up, so I often google things even if I know them. And sometimes even when I "know" something, a quick search reminds me of something I forgot. IMO, knowing how to find the information you need is just as valuable as already knowing it. And double checking yourself is a good skill too. If you've never forgotten a simple piece of syntax, then you never had a baby who didn't sleep through the night.

I believe GETDATE() is specific to T-SQL and CURRENT_TIMESTAMP is ANSI SQL function.

I think still learning

Now, that's the kind of answer that I'd expect from someone applying for a Senior position. I'd also expect them to just automatically cough up some extra info about UTC dates and times, etc. If they just say "GETDATE()" or just "CURRENT_TIMESTAMP", then they're probably not at the level I'm looking for for a Senior SQL Developer or a Senior DBA. Either is fine for a front-end developer position but they'd better know one of the two for a Senior front-end position that requires "some knowledge of SQL".

Like I said, you can tell a whole lot by asking questions at the start.

So would I be correct in presuming that a reason to use CURRENT_TIMESTAMP instead of GETDATE() would be code portability? Making it (somewhat) easier if you need to migrate / run the query against say a SQL server and an Oracle server?