Working with Dates in SQL

Question

I have an events table and need to pull the 4 closest dates to today's date and they can be in the past, present or future.

What would the SQL (using MySQL) be for this if it is possible?

Thanks

Brett

Answer 1

Try using the TIMEDIFF function like this:

select * 
from events
order by abs(timediff(now(), yourdatecolumn))
limit 4;

Answer 2

I don't know which DB you are using, but this works with mysql:

select *
from event
order by abs(datediff(event_date, now()))
limit 4