In SQL Server there are two ways to add a column with a default value.
Add Default Value to Existing Column
-- Add default to existing column DateOfHire: ALTER TABLE [dbo].[Employees] ADD DEFAULT (getdate()) FOR [DateOfHire] -- Add default value to existing column IsTerminated ALTER TABLE [dbo].[Employees] ADD DEFAULT ((0)) FOR [IsTerminated]
Add New Column with Default Value
-- Add new column DateOfHire with default ALTER TABLE Employees ADD DateOfHire datetime DEFAULT (GETDATE()) -- Add new column IsTerminated with default ALTER TABLE Employees ADD IsTerminated datetime DEFAULT (0)
Add Default Value with Create Table
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Employees] ( [EmployeeID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL, [FirstName] [varchar](50) NULL, [LastName] [varchar](50) NULL, [SSN] [varchar](9) NULL, -- Add default of zero [IsTerminated] [bit] NOT NULL DEFAULT ((0)) , -- Add default of getdate() [DateAdded] [datetime] NULL DEFAULT (getdate()), [Comments] [varchar](255) NULL, [DateOfHire] [datetime] NULL )
