SQL Server 2022 introduced a new T-SQL element, DATETRUNC, that truncates parts of dates. For example:
SELECT DATETRUNC(year, ‘2017-06-01’);
Truncates everything in that date other than the year, so it returns just 2017-01-01 00:00:
You might ask, “Well, why not just use YEAR()?” That’s a good question – there are times when you need a start or end date for a date range, and this could make it easier than trying to construct a full start & end date yourself.
Easier for you, that is – but not necessarily good for performance. Let’s take the Stack Overflow database, Users table, put