SQL provides various date functions to manipulate dates more efficiently. These functions can be used to extract specific parts of a date, format dates in different ways, and perform calculations with dates. The CURDATE() function returns the current date, while the EXTRACT(), DAY(), MONTH(), and YEAR() functions allow for extracting specific parts of a date. The DATE_ADD() and DATE_SUB() functions add or subtract intervals from a date, respectively, while the DATEDIFF() function calculates the difference between two dates. The DATE_FORMAT() function formats a date according to a specified format string, and the GETDATE() function returns the current date and time in SQL Server. Understanding these date functions can help developers work more efficiently with dates in their SQL applications.