Will GETUTCDATE() return the same value if used twice in the same statement?

Question

I have a trigger that automatically sets the CreationDate and ModifiedDate of the given entry to the current UTC time whenever a value is entered. (CreationDate will remain

Answer 1

It will be the same value.

GETDATE and GETUTCDATE are some of the functions that are evaluated once per query: not per row or column in that query. The optimiser will ensure they are the same because it updates the values at the same time

Another option is to define a DEFAULT constraints so you can do this and worry less about it.

UPDATE dbo.MyTable
SET CreationDate = DEFAULT, ModifiedDate = DEFAULT, ...
...

I have tables with similar columns with DEFAULT constraints and never had an issue. This also means I never have to think about what function I use in code.

Edit:

I could be wrong: SQL Server: intrigued by GETDATE()

Or I could be right: Selecting GETDATE() function twice in a select list-- same value for both?

Article: Conor Cunnigham mentions it the behaviour

Edit2: I'm demonstratably wrong: see StriplingWarrior's self answer. It's evaluated per column (not per row and not per query)