Difference between two dates in MySQL

Question

How to calculate the difference between two dates, in the format YYYY-MM-DD hh: mm: ss and to get the result in seconds or milliseconds?

Answer 1

Try using TIMESTAMPDIFF like this:

SELECT TIMEDIFF('2007-12-31 10:02:00','2007-12-30 12:01:01');

-- result: 22:00:59, the difference in HH:MM:SS format

SELECT TIMESTAMPDIFF(SECOND,'2007-12-30 12:01:01','2007-12-31 10:02:00'); 

-- result: 79259  the difference in seconds