Question

Consider 2 dates stored in 2 tables:

table_1: user_id data_1 update_date
table_2: user_id data_2 update_date

Is there a simple way to get the later of the 2 in MySQL?

If there is only one found, then it should return it.

EDIT: Added table details.

Answer 1

Use GREATEST

SELECT GREATEST(t1.update_date, t2.update_date) AS update_date
FROM table_1 AS t1
   , table_2 AS t2

Your query might be more complex but that should give you the idea.