Datepart(year, …) vs. Year(…)

Question

What are the advantages of using one over the other in the following:

DATEPART(YEAR, GETDATE())

As opposed to:

YEAR(GETDATE         


        

Answer 1

There is no difference. In the execution plan both is translated to as datepart(year,getdate()).

This is true for SQL Server 2005, 2008 and 2012.

select datepart(year, getdate())
from (select 1 x) x

select year(getdate())
from (select 1 x) x

Execution plan.