> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://ploegert.gitbook.io/til/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://ploegert.gitbook.io/til/programmy/databases/mysql/doing-date-math.md).

# Doing Date Math

MySQL has an array of functions for interacting with `date` and `datetime` values. If you'd like to do math with a date to compute a date in the future or the past, you can use the [`DATE_ADD()`](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/date-and-time-functions.html#function_date-add) and [`DATE_SUB()`](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/date-and-time-functions.html#function_date-sub) functions.

```
mysql> select now() Now, date_add(now(), interval 10 minute) '10 Minutes Later';
+---------------------+---------------------+
| Now                 | 10 Minutes Later    |
+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2018-10-18 15:53:29 | 2018-10-18 16:03:29 |
+---------------------+---------------------+

mysql> select now() Now, date_sub(now(), interval 9 day) '9 Days Earlier';
+---------------------+---------------------+
| Now                 | 9 Days Earlier      |
+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2018-10-18 15:54:01 | 2018-10-09 15:54:01 |
+---------------------+---------------------+
```

There are equivalent `ADDDATE()` and `SUBDATE()` functions if you prefer.

Check out [the docs](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/date-and-time-functions.html) for more details.