CurrentDate¶

Overview¶

The CurrentDate expression returns the current date in the session time zone. It is a deterministic function that returns the same date value throughout a single query execution, making it foldable for optimization purposes.

Syntax¶

CURRENT_DATE
CURRENT_DATE()

// DataFrame API
import org.apache.spark.sql.functions.current_date
df.select(current_date())

Arguments¶

Argument	Type	Description
timeZoneId	Option[String]	Optional time zone identifier for date calculation (internal parameter)

Return Type¶

Returns DateType - a date value without time component.

Supported Data Types¶

This expression takes no input data types as it is a leaf expression that generates a date value based on the current system time.

Algorithm¶

Evaluates the current system timestamp in the configured time zone
Extracts only the date component, discarding time information
Returns the same date value for all calls within a single query execution
Uses the session time zone or explicitly set time zone for date calculation
Implements foldable optimization since the value is constant per query

Partitioning Behavior¶

This expression does not affect partitioning behavior:

Preserves existing partitioning schemes as it adds computed columns
Does not require shuffle operations
Can be used safely in partitioned operations without performance impact

Edge Cases¶

Never returns null values (nullable = false)
Returns consistent date across all nodes in a distributed execution
Date boundary depends on the configured time zone
Behavior is deterministic within query execution but varies between queries
Time zone changes affect the returned date value

Code Generation¶

This expression uses CodegenFallback, meaning it falls back to interpreted evaluation mode rather than generating optimized Java code via Tungsten code generation.

Examples¶

-- Get current date
SELECT CURRENT_DATE;

-- Use in WHERE clause
SELECT * FROM events WHERE event_date = CURRENT_DATE;

-- Compare with timestamp column
SELECT *, CURRENT_DATE AS today FROM logs;

// DataFrame API usage
import org.apache.spark.sql.functions._

// Add current date column
df.withColumn("current_date", current_date())

// Filter by current date
df.filter(col("date_column") === current_date())

// Select current date
spark.sql("SELECT CURRENT_DATE").show()