How to obtain the current timestamp using the SYSDATE() function?

SYSDATE(prec) is a MySQL built-in function that returns the current timestamp with a given precision of fractional seconds. For example:

SELECT SYSDATE(), SLEEP(2), SYSDATE();
  -- +---------------------+----------+---------------------+
  -- | SYSDATE()           | SLEEP(2) | SYSDATE()           |
  -- +---------------------+----------+---------------------+
  -- | 2023-11-15 12:26:41 |        0 | 2023-11-15 12:26:43 |
  -- +---------------------+----------+---------------------+

SELECT SYSDATE(), SYSDATE()+1;
  -- +---------------------+----------------+
  -- | SYSDATE()           | SYSDATE()+1    |
  -- +---------------------+----------------+
  -- | 2023-11-15 17:12:24 | 20231115171225 |
  -- +---------------------+----------------+

SELECT SYSDATE(6), SYSDATE(6)+1;
  -- +----------------------------+-----------------------+
  -- | SYSDATE(6)                 | SYSDATE(6)+1          |
  -- +----------------------------+-----------------------+
  -- | 2023-11-15 17:13:00.628785 | 20231115171301.634238 |
  -- +----------------------------+-----------------------+

Reference information of the SYSDATE() function:

SYSDATE(prec): tm
  Returns the current timestamp as a value in 'YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss.SSSSSS' or
  YYYYMMDDhhmmss.SSSSSS format, depending on whether the function is
  used in string or numeric context.

Arguments, return value and availability:
  prec: Optional. Default is 0. The precision of fractional seconds.
  tm: Return value. The current timestamp as a string or number.
  Available since MySQL 4.

Related MySQL functions:

• NOW() - Start Time of Execution

⇒ TIME() - Extracting Time

⇐ SUBTIME() - Subtracting Time

⇑ MySQL Functions on Date and Time

⇑⇑ MySQL Function References