SQL Server Quarter Interval 1

[born2program]

I've been using functions like datepart for years and have used to get the date part of quarter before. My question is....Why does microsoft have several interval types available for quarter (ie. q, qq, quarter). For instance datepart(q,getdate()) and datepart(qq, getdate()) and datepart(quarter, getdate()) all return the same value, data type, etc. Is there a benefit to using one over the other and why do we have multiple to choose from?

Inquiring minds would like to know. Thanks.

 

[gmmastros]

I don't know for sure, but I suspect it is for backward compatibility reasons.

Personally, I prefer it completely spelled out "quarter", because I think it makes the code easier to read. You don't need to know the q or qq represents quarter.

-George
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
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[born2program]

Thanks. That's what I was thinking. Must be from a very old version of sql server.