SQL NOW

Postgres's shorter, function-call alias for CURRENT_TIMESTAMP — identical behavior, different syntax.

What & Why

In PostgreSQL, NOW() is equivalent to CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and is stable for the transaction. The worked query fixes the timestamp while counting the real product.features rows.

See How It Works

BUSINESS QUESTION

Using a fixed teaching clock, Product records a report timestamp beside the feature count.

id	name	description	team	released_at	deprecated_at
1	Activation Checklist	Guides new users through setup	growth	2024-01-20	NULL
2	CSV Export	Exports report data	platform	2024-02-14	NULL
3	Invite Nudges	Prompts workspace collaboration	growth	2024-03-05	NULL
4	Legacy Dashboard	Original reporting surface	analytics	2023-08-10	2024-06-01

EXAMPLE QUERY

-- In a live report, replace the teaching value with NOW().
SELECT
  TIMESTAMPTZ '2024-03-31 12:00:00+00' AS checked_at,
  COUNT(*) AS feature_count
FROM product.features;

RESULT — exact output from the displayed Queryflo rows

checked_at	feature_count
2024-03-31 12:00:00+00	4

The fixed timestamp represents NOW() beside the real feature count.

Now You Try

Practice this concept

Return the fixed teaching timestamp 2024-03-31 12:00:00+00 beside the product.features row count.

Available schema

product

Prefix tables with product.table_name.

checked_atfeature_count

product.features

Column	Type
id	integer
name	text
description	text
team	text
released_at	timestamp with time zone
deprecated_at	timestamp with time zone
internal_priority	integer

query.sql

Intermediate business practice