I work with DB / SQL almost on a daily basis and the more I work with sql, the more I'm the opinion that there is no reason to use a right join or a full outer join.
Let's assume we have two tables: table1 and table2. Either I want to receive additional information for the rows in table1 so I can use an inner join on table2 and if I want to keep the original rows if there is no match, I use the left join then:
In case I have to add additional information to table 2, I can do the same and left join table 2 to table on. So I do not see a reason why I should ever use a right join. Is there any use case where you can not use a left join for a right join?
I also wondered if I would ever need a full outer join. Why would you join two tables and keep the rows that do not match of BOTH tables? We you could also achieve this by using two left joins.
Why would you join two tables and keep the rows that do not match of BOTH tables?
The full join has cases where it is useful.One of them is comparing two tables for differences like XOR between tables:
SELECT *
FROM t1
FULL JOIN t2
ON t1.id = t2.id
WHERE t1.id IS NULL
OR t2.id IS NULL;
Example:
t1.id ... t2.id
1 NULL
NULL 2
you could also achieve this by using two left joins.
Yes you could:
SELECT t1.*, t2.*
FROM t1
LEFT JOIN t2
ON t1.id = t2.id
WHERE t2.id IS NULL
UNION ALL
SELECT t1.*, t2.*
FROM t2
LEFT JOIN t1
ON t1.id = t2.id
WHERE t1.id IS NULL;
Some SQL dialects does not support FULL OUTER JOIN and we emulate it that way.
Related: How to do a FULL OUTER JOIN in MySQL?
On the other hand RIGHT JOIN is useful when you have to join more than 2 tables:
SELECT *
FROM t1
JOIN t2
...
RIGHT JOIN t3
...
Of course you could argue that you could rewrite it to correspodning form either by changing join order or using subqueries(inline views). From developer perspective it is always good to have tools(even if you don't have to use them)
Related
bit of a novice question, I am running a query and left joining and wanted to know whether there was a difference when you specify a filter in terms of performance, in e.g below, top I filter straight after first join and below I do all joins and then filter:
Select t1.*,t2.* from t1 t1
left join t2 t2
on t1.key = t2.key
and t1.date < today
left join t3 t3
on t2.key2 = t3.key
vs
Select t1.*,t2.* from t1 t1
left join t2 t2
on t1.key = t2.key
left join t3 t3
on t2.key2 = t3.key
and t1.date < today
Learn what LEFT JOIN ON returns: INNER JOIN ON rows UNION ALL unmatched left table rows extended by NULLs. Always know what INNER JOIN you want as part of an OUTER JOIN.
In general your queries have different inner join & null-extended rows for the 1st left joins & then further differences due to more joining. Unless certain constraints hold, the 2 queries return different functions of their inputs. So comparing their performance seems moot.
I'm new to SQL. I need help with left join with an select.
The part I'm interested in:
Select...
from table t1
left join table t2
on t1.id=t2.id,
left join (select * from table 3 where ...) t3
on t1.id=t3.id
where t1.id='something'
Also i tried to moved in the where clause the t1.id(+)=t3.id but didn't work.
I think the logic you want is:
Select...
from t1 left join
t2
on t1.id = t2.id left join
t3
on t1.id = t3.id and
<t3 conditions go here>
where t1.id = 'something'
You have a superfluous comma -- and commas should never be in the FROM clause.
You also have a superfluous subquery. You can get the same functionality by just including the condition in the ON clause.
This is a very simple question but i couldn't get the result for the life of me.
Where is the "leftness" or "rightness" of a table determined in SQL?
so if have to tables, t1 and t2 with this query:
SELECT * FROM t1 LEFT JOIN t2 ON t1.id = t2.id
I'm certain t1 is on the left but what if i change the order of the ON statement like so:
SELECT * FROM t1 LEFT JOIN t2 ON t2.id = t1.id
is t2 now on the left or is t1 still on the left because it is on the left of LEFT?
i appreciate the time anyone takes to answer this simple question.
n.b. my question is not about the difference between LEFT and RIGHT joins
The order of a table name matters in Join (LEFT, RIGHT), Not the order of join condition.
So here, your both queries are same.
Left join or Left outer join requires table name with the condition "t1 LEFT JOIN t2". Here, t1 is left joined with t2 meaning all elements of t1 and matching rows on t2.
The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all records from the left table (table1), and the matched records from the right table (table2). The result is NULL from the right side, if there is no match.
Similarly
The RIGHT JOIN keyword returns all records from the right table (table2), and the matched records from the left table (table1). The result is NULL from the left side, when there is no match.
Putting in your terms the LEFTness or RIGHTness of a table is determined at
FROM table1 LEFT/RIGHT JOIN table2.
Whatever table is before the keyword LEFT join is considered Left table and similarly whatever table is after keyword RIGHT join is considered as Right table. For more info you can refer SQL-Joins
How to decide the tables which is left and which is right while querying it using joins?Is there any Thumb Rule.
"left" is that table which appears first after the FROM clause when reading from left to right
example:
select t1.* ,t2.* from table1 t1 left join table2 t2 on t1.id=t2.id
here table1 is left table
I have 3 tables:
table1: col1(id), col2(segment), col3(sector), col4(year)
mapping table2:
col1(segment1) => values are the same as from table1.col2,
col2(segmnet2) =>values are the same as from table3.col2
table3: col1(id), col2(segment), col3(sector), col4(year)
Now, Im doing FULL OUTER JOIN:
select t1.id, t3.id
from table1 t1
full outer join table3 t3 on
t1.year = t3.year and....
But I also need to join by COL2 - SEGMENT, with using mapping table.
How to do correctly do it?
If I understood you correctly, you just need to add another full outer join:
select t1.id, t3.id
from table1 t1
full outer join mapping t2 on( t1.col2= t2.col1)
full outer join table3 t3 on(t1.year = t3.year and t2.col2 = t3.col2
Just to make sure - a full outer join keeps all the records from both tables being joined, no matter if there is a match or not! I've added another full outer join but change it to the kind of join you need if it isn't full.