MySQL YEAR

MySQL has a data type called YEAR that is specifically designed to store and represent year values. This data type is useful when you need to store and retrieve years without the need for month or day information. The YEAR data type can store values in the range of 1901 to 2155, with the additional values ‘0000’ and ‘0001’ also supported.

Key points

Here are some key points about the MySQL YEAR data type:

Syntax for Declaration

When creating a table, you can use the YEAR data type to define a column that will store year values. The syntax is as follows:

CREATE TABLE example_table (
    year_column YEAR
);

Year Representation

The YEAR data type stores year values in a compact format. The display format is YYYY, and the stored values are in the range ‘1901’ to ‘2155’. The years ‘0000’ and ‘0001’ have special meanings, where ‘0000’ represents the year zero, and ‘0001’ is considered an undefined or missing value.

Inserting Values

You can insert values into a YEAR column using the standard INSERT statement. For example:

INSERT INTO example_table (year_column) VALUES (2023);

Retrieving Values

To retrieve values from a YEAR column, you can use the SELECT statement:

SELECT year_column FROM example_table;

Arithmetic Operations

You can perform arithmetic operations on YEAR values. For instance, you can add or subtract years from a YEAR column:

SELECT year_column + 5 FROM example_table;

This will add 5 years to each value in the year_column.

Functions

MySQL provides functions that can be used with the YEAR data type. For example, the YEAR() function extracts the year from a date or datetime expression:

SELECT YEAR(NOW());

This query returns the current year.

Indexing

It’s possible to create indexes on YEAR columns to optimize queries that involve filtering or sorting by year.

In summary, the YEAR data type in MySQL is a specialized data type for storing and manipulating year values. It offers a convenient way to work with years when more granular date information is not needed. It’s important to be aware of the supported range and the special values ‘0000’ and ‘0001’ when using this data type.