Timestamp or Date?

[CRichardson]

I frequently develop MYSQL powered PHP applications and I am always torn between using the "timestamp" or "date" data type?

Can somebody clear up what each should be used for etc?

[bradgrafelman]

Do you want the column to automatically be INSERT'ed with the current date when you create a new row? Do you want this column to contain the datetime that the row was last UPDATE'd? If so, use a TIMESTAMP column.

If you're just storing some arbitrary date, use a DATE/DATETIME column.