Dates play a vital role in databases, helping us record events, transactions, and future deadlines. But what if your date information is in text datatype in your SQL database? Don’t worry!
In this short how-to, I’ll show you how to tackle this common issue and make your date columns function.
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Before I get into the solutions, let’s quickly grasp why dates end up as strings. This can occur when data comes from various sources or systems, each using different date formats. Converting everything to a single standard format can be challenging, so dates are stored as strings instead
The Issue with String Dates
Storing dates as strings poses a problem: SQL doesn’t treat them as dates. As a result, performing tasks like date calculations or comparisons becomes challenging. For example, calculating date differences or retrieving records within a date range isn’t straightforward.
The Fix: Casting and Converting
The solution lies in SQL’s ability to convert string dates into genuine date values. Here’s how you can achieve it:
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