Get day of week in SQL Server 2005/2008

Use DATENAME or DATEPART:

SELECT DATENAME(dw,GETDATE()) -- FridaySELECT DATEPART(dw,GETDATE()) -- 6

Even though SQLMenace's answer has been accepted, there is one important SET option you should be aware of

SET DATEFIRST

DATENAME will return correct date name but not the same DATEPART value if the first day of week has been changed as illustrated below.

declare @DefaultDateFirst intset @DefaultDateFirst = @@datefirst--; 7 First day of week is "Sunday" by defaultselect  [@DefaultDateFirst] = @DefaultDateFirst     set datefirst @DefaultDateFirstselect datename(dw,getdate()) -- Saturdayselect datepart(dw,getdate()) -- 7--; Set the first day of week to * TUESDAY * --; (some people start their week on Tuesdays...)set datefirst 2select datename(dw,getdate()) -- Saturday--; Returns 5 because Saturday is the 5th day since Tuesday.--; Tue 1, Wed 2, Th 3, Fri 4, Sat 5select datepart(dw,getdate()) -- 5 <-- It's not 7!set datefirst @DefaultDateFirst

SELECT  CASE DATEPART(WEEKDAY,GETDATE())      WHEN 1 THEN 'SUNDAY'     WHEN 2 THEN 'MONDAY'     WHEN 3 THEN 'TUESDAY'     WHEN 4 THEN 'WEDNESDAY'     WHEN 5 THEN 'THURSDAY'     WHEN 6 THEN 'FRIDAY'     WHEN 7 THEN 'SATURDAY' END