Basic SQL Join Types

There are four basic types of SQL joins: inner, left, right, and full. The easiest and most intuitive way to
explain the difference between these four types is by using a Venn diagram, which shows all possible logical
relations between data sets.

Again, it's important to stress that before you can begin using any join type, you'll need to extract the data and
load it into an RDBMS like Amazon Redshift, where you can query tables from multiple sources. You build
that process manually, or you can use an ETL service like Stitch, which automates that process for you.

Let’s say we have two sets of data in our relational database: table A and table B, with some sort of relation
specified by primary and foreign keys. The result of joining these tables together can be visually represented
by the following diagram:

The extent of the overlap, if any, is determined by how many records in Table A match the records in Table B.
Depending on what subset of data we would like to select from the two tables, the four join types can be
visualized by highlighting the corresponding sections of the Venn diagram:

Select all records from Table A and Table B, where the join condition is met.

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Select all records from Table A, along with records from Table B for which the join condition is met (if at all).

Select all records from Table B, along with records from Table A for which the join condition is met (if at all).

Select all records from Table A and Table B, regardless of whether the join condition is met or not.

Examples of SQL Join Types

Let's use the tables we introduced in the “What is a SQL join?” section to show examples of these joins in
action. The relationship between the two tables is specified by the customer_id key, which is the "primary
key" in customers table and a "foreign key" in the orders table:

Table: Customer

customer_ first_na
last_name email address city state zipcode
id me
Washingto gwashington@ 3200 Mt Vernon Mount
1 George VA 22121
n usa.gov Hwy Vernon
[email protected]
2 John Adams 1250 Hancock St Quincy MA 02169
v
tjefferson@usa. 931 Thomas Charlottesvi
3 Thomas Jefferson VA 22902
gov Jefferson Pkwy lle
jmadison@usa. 11350
4 James Madison Orange VA 22960
gov Constitution Hwy
[email protected] 2050 James Charlottesvi
5 James Monroe VA 22902
ov Monroe Parkway lle

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Table: Order

order_id order_date amount customer_id

1 07/04/1776 $234.56 1

2 03/14/1760 $78.50 3

3 05/23/1784 $124.00 2

4 09/03/1790 $65.50 3

Note that (1) not every customer in our customers table has placed an order and (2) there are a few orders for
which no customer record exists in our customers table.

Inner Join

Let’s say we wanted to get a list of those customers who placed an order and the details of the order they
placed. This would be a perfect fit for an inner join, since an inner join returns records at the intersection of
the two tables.

select first_name, last_name, order_date, order_amount

first_name last_name order_date order_amount

George Washington 07/4/1776 $234.56

John Adams 05/23/1784 $124.00

Thomas Jefferson 03/14/1760 $78.50

Thomas Jefferson 09/03/1790 $65.50

Note that only George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson placed orders, with Thomas Jefferson
placing two separate orders on 3/14/1760 and 9/03/1790.

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Left Join
If we wanted to simply append information about orders to our customers table, regardless of whether a
customer placed an order or not, we would use a left join. A left join returns all records from table A and any
matching records from table B.

select first_name, last_name, order_date, order_amount

first_name last_name order_date order_amount

George Washington 07/04/1776 $234.56

John Adams 05/23/1784 $124.00

Thomas Jefferson 03/14/1760 $78.50

Thomas Jefferson 09/03/1790 $65.50

James Madison NULL NULL

James Monroe NULL NULL

Note that since there were no matching records for James Madison and James Monroe in our orders table, the
order_date and order_amount are NULL, which simply means there is no data for these fields.

So why would this be useful? By simply adding a “where order_date is NULL” line to our SQL query, it
returns a list of all customers who have not placed an order:

select first_name, last_name, order_date, order_amount

Right Join

Right join is a mirror version of the left join and allows to get a list of all orders, appended with customer
information.

select first_name, last_name, order_date, order_amount

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first_name last_name order_date order_amount
George Washington 07/04/1776 $234.56
Thomas Jefferson 03/14/1760 $78.50
John Adams 05/23/1784 $124.00
Thomas Jefferson 09/03/1790 $65.50
NULL NULL 07/21/1795 $25.50
NULL NULL 11/27/1787 $14.40

Note that since there were no matching customer records for orders placed in 1795 and 1787, the first_name
and last_name fields are NULL in the resulting set.

Also note that the order in which the tables are joined is important. We are right joining the orders table to the
customers table. If we were to right join the customers table to the orders table, the result would be the same
as left joining the orders table to the customers table.

Why is this useful? Simply adding a “where first_name is NULL” line to our SQL query returns a list of all
orders for which we failed to record information about the customers who placed them:

select first_name, last_name, order_date, order_amount

Full Join

Finally, for a list of all records from both tables, we can use a full join.

select first_name, last_name, order_date, order_amount

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first_name last_name order_date order_amount
George Washington 07/04/1776 $234.56
Thomas Jefferson 03/14/1760 $78.50
John Adams 05/23/1784 $124.00
Thomas Jefferson 09/03/1790 $65.50
NULL NULL 07/21/1795 $25.50
NULL NULL 11/27/1787 $14.40
James Madison NULL NULL
James Monroe NULL NULL

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