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Articles Database Database SQL

SQL Joins
Vivek Johari, 20 Aug 2010

CPOL

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4.68 (31 votes)

This article is written to describe all the different types of Sql Joins
I generally feel that people are afraid of Joins in SQL Server. But if they know what the different types of Joins in SQL Server are and how
they can be best used then they really enjoy using them. By using the joins we can get data from many tables based on some logical
conditions.

The Different Types of Joins in SQL Server

1. Inner join or Equi join
2. Outer Join
3. Cross join
Let's suppose we have two tables Employee and Department whose description is given below:Hide Copy Code

CREATE TABLE [dbo]. [Employee](

[Empid] [Int] IDENTITY (1, 1) NOT NULL Primary key,
[EmpNumber] [nvarchar](50) NOT NULL,
[EmpFirstName] [nvarchar](150) NOT NULL,
[EmpLastName] [nvarchar](150) NULL,
[EmpEmail] [nvarchar](150) NULL,
[Managerid] [int] NULL,
[Departmentid] [INT]
)
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Department](
[Departmenttid] [int] IDENTITY (1, 1) NOT NULL primary key,
[DepartmentName] [nvarchar](255) NOT NULL
)
After the creation of the tables we need to insert the data into these tables. To insert the data the following queries are used:Hide Copy Code

insert into Employee

(EmpNumber,EmpFirstName,EmpLastName,EmpEmail,Managerid,Departmentid)
values('A001','Samir','Singh','[email protected]',2,2)
insert into Employee
(EmpNumber,EmpFirstName,EmpLastName,EmpEmail,Managerid,Departmentid)
values('A002','Amit','Kumar','[email protected]',1,1)
insert into Employee (EmpNumber,EmpFirstName,EmpLastName,EmpEmail,Managerid,Departmentid)
values('A003','Neha','Sharma','[email protected]',1,2)
insert into Employee (EmpNumber,EmpFirstName,EmpLastName,EmpEmail,Managerid,Departmentid)
values('A004','Vivek','Kumar','[email protected]',1,NULL)
insert into Department(DepartmentName)
values('Accounts')
insert into Department(DepartmentName)
values('Admin')
insert into Department(DepartmentName)
values('HR')
insert into Department(DepartmentName)
values('Technology')

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Inner Join
This type of join is also known as the Equi join. This join returns all the rows from both tables where there is a match. This type of join can
be used in the situation where we need to select only those rows which have values common in the columns which are specified in the ON
clause.
Now, if we want to get employee id, employee first name, employee's last name and their department name for those entries employee
which belongs to at least one department, then we can use the inner join.

Query for Inner Join

Hide Copy Code

SELECT Emp.Empid, Emp.EmpFirstName, Emp.EmpLastName, Dept.DepartmentName

FROM Employee Emp
INNER JOIN Department dept
ON Emp.Departmentid=Dept.Departmenttid

Result
Hide Copy Code

Empid
1
2
3

EmpFirstName
Samir
Amit
Neha

EmpLastName
Singh
Kumar
Sharma

DepartmentName
Admin
Accounts
Admin

Explanation
In this query, we used the inner join based on the column "Departmentid" which is common in both the tables "Employee" and
"Department". This query will give all the rows from both the tables which have common values in the column "Departmentid". Neha
Sharma and Samir Singh has the value "2" in the Departmentid column of the table Employee. In the Department table, the Department
"Admin" has the value "2" in the Departmentid column. Therefore the above query returns two rows for the department "Admin", one for
Neha Sharma and another for Samir Singh.

Self Join
Sometime we need to join a table to itself. This type of join is called Self join. It is one of the type of inner join where both the columns
belong to the same table. In this Join, we need to open two copies of a same table in the memory. Since the table name is the same for
both instances, we use the table aliases to make identical copies of the same table to be open in different memory locations. For example
if we need to get the employee name and their manager name we need to use the self join, since the managerid for an employee is also
stored in the same table as the employee.

Query for the Self Join

Hide Copy Code

SELECT Emp1.Empid,
Emp1.EmpFirstName+' '+Emp1.EmpLastName as EmployeeName,
Emp2.EmpFirstName+' '+Emp2.EmpLastName as ManagerName
FROM Employee Emp1
INNER JOIN Employee Emp2
ON Emp1.Managerid=Emp2.Empid

Result
Hide Copy Code

Empid
1
2
3
4

EmployeeName
Samir Singh
Amit Kumar
Neha Sharma
Vivek Kumar

ManagerName
Amit Kumar
Samir Singh
Samir Singh
Samir Singh

Explanation
Since the employee and the manager information is contained in the same table (Employee, since both are employees), we have to use
the Self Join. In the self join query, we make two copies of the table Employee by using the aliases Emp1 and Emp2 and then use Inner

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join between them by using the managerid column of the Emp1 and Empid column of the table Emp2.In this example, we use managerid
and empid columns of the Employee table since the employee id of the manager of an employee is stored in the managerid of the
Employee table.

Outer Join
This type of join is needed when we need to select all the rows from the table on the left (or right or both) regardless of whether the other
table has common values or not and it usually enter null values for the data which is missing.
The Outer join can be of three types
1. Left Outer Join
2. Right Outer Join
3. Full Outer Join

Left Outer Join

If we want to get employee id, employee first name, employes last name and their department name for all the employees regardless of
whether they belong to any department or not,then we can use the left outer join. In this case we keep the Employee table on the left side
of the join clause. It will insert NULL values for the data which is missing in the right table.

Query for Left Outer Join

Hide Copy Code

SELECT Emp.Empid,
Emp.EmpFirstName,
Emp.EmpLastName,
Dept.DepartmentName
FROM Employee Emp
LEFT OUTER JOIN Department dept
ON Emp.Departmentid=Dept.Departmenttid

Result
Hide Copy Code

Empid
1
2
3
4

EmpFirstName
Samir
Amit
Neha
Vivek

EmpLastName
Singh
Kumar
Sharma
Kumar

DepartmentName
Admin
Accounts
Admin
NULL

Explanation
Since we have use the Left Outer Join, this query will give the information (Employee id, Employee first name, Employee last name and
their department name) for all the employee from the Employee table and it insert NULL value in the DepartmentName column where the
employee does not belong to any department. In the table Employee, since Samir Singh, Amit Kumar and Neha Sharma have values in
their Departmentid column, therefore the above query will display their Department name under the heading DepartmentName.But since
Vivek Kumar doesn't belongs to any department and has null value in the column Departmentid therefore the above query will Display the
NULL value under the column heading DepartmentName.

Right Outer Join

If we want to get all the departments name and employee id, employee first name, and employees last name of all the employees
belonging to the department regardless of whether a department have employees or not, then we can use the right outer join. In this case
we keep the Department table on the right side of the join clause. It will insert NULL values for the data which is missing in the left table
(Employee).

Query for Right Outer Join

Hide Copy Code

SELECT Dept.DepartmentName,
Emp.Empid, Emp.EmpFirstName,
Emp.EmpLastName
FROM Employee Emp

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RIGHT OUTER JOIN Department dept

ON Emp.Departmentid=Dept.Departmentid

Result
Hide Copy Code

DepartmentName
Accounts
Admin
Admin
HR
Technology

Empid
2
1
3
NULL
NULL

EmpFirstName
Amit
Samir
Neha
NULL
NULL

EmpLastName
Kumar
Singh
Sharma
NULL
NULL

Explanation
Since we have use the Right Outer Join, this query will join the two tables Employee and Department on the basis of the values contains in
the column Departmenttid. It will give the department name from the Department table and the Employee id, Employee first name, and
Employee last name of all the employees that belong to that department. If any department does not contain any employee then it insert
NULL value in the columns coming from the Employee table. Since no employee is connected to the departments HR and Technology,
this query will display NULL values under the columns Empid, EmpFirstName and EmpLastName for the Departments HR and Technology.
Since the department Admin and Accounts contains the employees therefore the columns Empid, EmpFirstName and EmpLastName
contains the information, employee id, employee first name and employee last name respectively.

Full Outer Join

If we want to get all the departments name and the employee id, employee first name, employes last name of all the employees
regardless of whether a department have employees or not, or whether a employee belong to a department or not, then we can use the
full outer join. It will insert null values for the data which is missing in both the tables.

Query for Full Outer Join

Hide Copy Code

SELECT Emp.Empid,
Emp.EmpFirstName,
Emp.EmpLastName,
Dept.DepartmentName
FROM Employee Emp
FULL OUTER JOIN Department dept
ON Emp.Departmentid=Dept.Departmenttid

Result
Hide Copy Code

Empid
1
2
3
4
NULL
NULL

EmpFirstName
Samir
Amit
Neha
Vivek
NULL
NULL

EmpFirstName
Singh
Kumar
Sharma
Kumar
NULL
NULL

DepartmentName
Admin
Accounts
Admin
NULL
HR
Technology

Explanation
Since we have used the Full Outer Join, this query will give the name of all the departments from the Department table and the Employee
id, Employee first name, Employee last name of all the employees from the Employee table. If any department does not contain any
employee, then it insert NULL value in the columns Empid, EmpFirstName, EmpLastName columns and if any employee doesn't belong to
any department then it insert NULL value in the column DepartmentName. Here since Vivek Kumar doesn't belong to any department, the
result displays NULL value under the column DepartmentName. Since the departments HR and Accounts don't contain any employees, the
result of the above query displays NULL values under the columns Empid, EmpFirstName and EmpLastName for the departments HR and
Technology..

Cross Join
This join combines all the rows from the left table with every row from the right table. This type of join is needed when we need to select
all the possible combinations of rows and columns from both the tables. This type of join is generally not preferred as it takes lot of time

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and gives a huge result that is not often useful.

Query for the Cross Join

Hide Copy Code

SELECT Emp.Empid,
Emp.EmpFirstName,
Emp.EmpLastName,
Dept.DepartmentName
FROM Employee Emp
CROSS JOIN Department dept

Results
Hide Copy Code

Empid
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4

EmpFirstName
Samir
Amit
Neha
Vivek
Samir
Amit
Neha
Vivek
Samir
Amit
Neha
Vivek
Samir
Amit
Neha
Vivek

EmpLastName
Singh
Kumar
Sharma
Kumar
Singh
Kumar
Sharma
Kumar
Singh
Kumar
Sharma
Kumar
Singh
Kumar
Sharma
Kumar

DepartmentName
Accounts
Accounts
Accounts
Accounts
Admin
Admin
Admin
Admin
HR
HR
HR
HR
Technology
Technology
Technology
Technology

Explanation
This Cross Join query will give combines all the rows from the Employee table with every row of the Department table. Since the Employee
table contains 4 rows and the Department table contains 4 rows, therefore this result will returns 4*4=16 rows. This query doesn't contain
any ON clause.

Wrapping Up
The above discussion can be summarized as joins are used to select data from more than one table in a single query. The inner join is
used to select only those rows that have common values in the column on which join is based. The Left Outer Join is used to select the
rows from the left hand side table regardless of whether the table on the right hand side has common values or not. Similarly the Right
Outer join is used to select rows from the table on the right hand side regardless of whether the table on the left hand side has common
values or not. The Cross join is used to get rows from all the possible combinations of rows and columns from both the table. If should
be used when it the only way left since it may run for a very long time and returns a huge result set which may not be useful.
Joining of the tables should be avoided if it is based on the columns that have very few unique values. To increase the JOIN performance
it is better to limits the number of rows needed to be joined, by including a WHERE clause in your query. Join performance can also we
increased if the columns used for joining the tables have their own indexes.

License
This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

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About the Author

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Vivek Johari
Technical Lead
India
I am currently working as a Analyst and have around 7.5 years of experience in database.
Degree:Master Degree in Computer(MCA)
Work experience:Designing of the database.
Database Optimization.
Writing Complex Stored Procedures,Functions,Triggers etc.
Designing and developing SSIS & DTS packages.
Designing SQL Reports using SSRS.
Database Server Maintenance.
Certification:Microsoft certified Sql DBA in Sql server 2008 (MCTS).
Microsoft certified BI professional in Sql server 2008 (MCTS).
Oracle certified profession DBA in ORACLE 10g (OCP)
certified profession DBA in ORACLE 9i (OCP)
My other publication
Technical Blog:- Technologies with Vivek Johari
Moderator and Blogger at BeyondRelational.com
Guest Author and Blogger at sqlservercentral.com

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My vote to you 5

sithmichel

3-Nov-15 21:31

My vote of 5

Sibeesh KV

19-Sep-14 20:43

Vivek Johari

24-Sep-14 23:13

Sibeesh KV

24-Sep-14 23:40

Member 10992162

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Vivek Johari

4-Aug-14 22:44

Member 9861188

24-Sep-13 2:49

Re: My vote of 5
Re: My vote of 5
it was very useful
Re: it was very useful
Very Nice Article
Re: Very Nice Article

Vivek Johari

Very nice article

Re: Very nice article

My vote of 5

Vivek Johari

19-Sep-13 6:05
24-May-13 9:42
9-Sep-13 2:45

Member 10066698

Re: very thankfull for this article

20-May-13 22:27

Vivek Johari

My vote of 1

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Vivek Johari

My vote of 5

20-Mar-13 1:18

jerrymillerjr

Re: My vote of 5

10-Dec-12 11:57

Vivek Johari

very neat explanation

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Re: very neat explanation

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Vivek Johari

My vote of 4
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5-Dec-11 22:49

Vivek Johari

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Vivek Johari

This very helpful.....

News

19-Sep-13 1:53

Vivek Johari

very thankfull for this article

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