In MariaDB, CURRENT_DATE and CURRENT_DATE() are synonyms for CURDATE().

The CURDATE() function is a built-in date and time function that returns the current date.

The date is returned in either 'YYYY-MM-DD' or YYYYMMDD, depending on whether the function is being used in a string or numeric context.

Syntax

The syntax goes like this:

CURRENT_DATE
CURRENT_DATE()

No arguments are required or accepted.

You can alternatively call CURDATE() like this:

CURDATE()

Example

Here’s an example:

SELECT 
    CURRENT_DATE,
    CURRENT_DATE(),
    CURDATE();

Result:

+--------------+----------------+------------+
| CURRENT_DATE | CURRENT_DATE() | CURDATE()  |
+--------------+----------------+------------+
| 2021-05-08   | 2021-05-08     | 2021-05-08 |
+--------------+----------------+------------+

We can see that all three return the same result.

Numeric Context

When used in a numeric context, the resulting date is in YYYYMMDD format.

Example:

SELECT 
    CURRENT_DATE + 0,
    CURRENT_DATE() + 0;

Result:

+------------------+--------------------+
| CURRENT_DATE + 0 | CURRENT_DATE() + 0 |
+------------------+--------------------+
|         20210508 |           20210508 |
+------------------+--------------------+

Adding to the Current Date

There are many ways to perform arithmetic on dates in MariaDB. You can use such methods to add a number of days, weeks, months, or years to the current date.

Here’s an example of using the addition operator (+) to add 10 days to the date:

SELECT 
    CURRENT_DATE,
    CURRENT_DATE() + INTERVAL 10 DAY;

Result:

+--------------+----------------------------------+
| CURRENT_DATE | CURRENT_DATE() + INTERVAL 10 DAY |
+--------------+----------------------------------+
| 2021-05-08   | 2021-05-18                       |
+--------------+----------------------------------+

Also see functions like DATE_ADD() and ADDDATE() for an alternative way to add to the current date.

Subtracting from the Current Date

Here’s an example of using the subtraction operator (-) to subtract 10 days from the current date:

SELECT 
    CURRENT_DATE(),
    CURRENT_DATE() - INTERVAL 10 DAY;

Result:

+----------------+----------------------------------+
| CURRENT_DATE() | CURRENT_DATE() - INTERVAL 10 DAY |
+----------------+----------------------------------+
| 2021-05-08     | 2021-04-28                       |
+----------------+----------------------------------+

See functions like DATE_SUB() and SUBDATE() for an alternative way to add to the current date.

No Arguments

No arguments are accepted. Here’s what happens when we pass an argument:

SELECT CURRENT_DATE(1);

Result:

ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MariaDB server version for the right syntax to use near '1)' at line 1