When should I use left outer join?
A left outer join is a method of combining tables. The result includes unmatched rows from only the table that is specified before the LEFT OUTER JOIN clause. If you are joining two tables and want the result set to include unmatched rows from only one table, use a LEFT OUTER JOIN clause or a RIGHT OUTER JOIN clause.INNER JOIN vs LEFT JOIN Actually, that is not the question at all. You'll use INNER JOIN when you want to return only records having pair on both sides, and you'll use LEFT JOIN when you need all records from the “left” table, no matter if they have pair in the “right” table or not.Use a left join when you want to retrieve all rows from the left table and the matched rows from the right table, with NULL values for non-matching rows.

What are the use cases for left outer join : Left joins are useful when you need to combine data from multiple tables, but only include rows that have a match in the leftmost table. This type of join is also useful for retrieving all rows from the leftmost table, even if no matching rows exist in the other table.

Which is faster left join or left outer join

The short answer is that there is no difference between a LEFT JOIN and a LEFT OUTER JOIN .

What is a left outer join for dummies : LEFT JOIN Explained

LEFT JOIN , also called LEFT OUTER JOIN , returns all records from the left (first) table and the matched records from the right (second) table. If there is no match for a specific record, you'll get NULLs in the corresponding columns of the right table.

In general, you'll only really need to use inner joins and left outer joins. Which join type you use depends on whether you want to include unmatched rows in your results: If you need unmatched rows in the primary table, use a left outer join. If you don't need unmatched rows, use an inner join.

Remarks. Use a LEFT JOIN operation to create a left outer join. Left outer joins include all of the records from the first (left) of two tables, even if there are no matching values for records in the second (right) table. Use a RIGHT JOIN operation to create a right outer join.

In which case would you use an outer join

You would use SQL OUTER JOIN when you want to retrieve all records from both tables, regardless of whether there are matching records.There really is no difference between a LEFT JOIN and a LEFT OUTER JOIN. Both versions of the syntax will produce the exact same result in PL/SQL. Some people do recommend including outer in a LEFT JOIN clause so it's clear that you're creating an outer join, but that's entirely optional.LEFT JOIN Usage

This type of JOIN is used when you want to show all data from the left table and only the matching ones from the right. In a way, you're filtering data from the right table.

Joins execute faster compared to subqueries. A join-based query retrieval time will nearly always be faster than one that uses a subquery.

What is the difference between left join and left outer join : The short answer is that there is no difference between a LEFT JOIN and a LEFT OUTER JOIN . They return identical results. (This is true for all database servers and the ANSI and ISO SQL standard, not just SQL Server.)

Why do we use left join in SQL : A join combines the set of two tables only. A left join is used when a user wants to extract the left table's data only. Left join not only combines the left table's rows but also the rows that match alongside the right table.

How do I choose which join to use in SQL

How to Decide Which SQL Join to Use

  1. Use an inner join when: You don't need to show all the records from the first table or all the records from the second table.
  2. Use a left join when: You need to show all the records from the first table, but you don't need to show all the records from the second table.


Common use cases for LEFT JOIN include: Displaying all items: When you want to display all items from the left table, even if there are no corresponding items in the right table. Handling missing data: When you need to handle situations where data might be missing or incomplete in one of the tables.In general, you'll only really need to use inner joins and left outer joins. Which join type you use depends on whether you want to include unmatched rows in your results: If you need unmatched rows in the primary table, use a left outer join. If you don't need unmatched rows, use an inner join.

What is the difference between outer apply and left outer join : The OUTER APPLY is equivalent to a LEFT OUTER JOIN. If you can achieve the same results with a regular JOIN clause, why and when do you use the APPLY operator Although you can achieve the same with a regular JOIN, the need for APPLY arises if you have a table-valued expression on the right part.