story by Olivia Wilson

I WANT TO BE
AN ASTRONAUT
Subha Sandeep Samal
🛠 Oracle SQL Joins – A Comprehensive
Guide with Theory and Examples
Introduction to Joins in Oracle SQL

What are Joins?

In SQL, a JOIN is used to combine rows from two or more tables based on a related
column between them. It's like forming friendships between tables!

Why are Joins Used?

To retrieve meaningful data spread across multiple tables.

To enforce referential integrity in relational databases.
To avoid data redundancy and ensure normalized data storage.
To improve data retrieval efficiency compared to subqueries.

Types of Joins in SQL

Joins in SQL can be categorized into the following types:

1️ INNER JOIN – Matches data in both tables.
2️ LEFT OUTER JOIN (LEFT JOIN) – All from the left, matching from
the right.
3️ RIGHT OUTER JOIN (RIGHT JOIN) – All from the right, matching
from the left.
4️ FULL OUTER JOIN – Everything from both tables!
5️ CROSS JOIN – Every row from Table A meets every row from Table B.
6️ SELF JOIN – A table joins itself. (Sounds introspective, right? )
7️ NATURAL JOIN – Auto-joins based on common columns.
8️ EQUI JOIN – Joins based on equality conditions.
9️ NON-EQUI JOIN – Joins based on non-equality conditions.

Types of Joins with Theoretical Explanation and Examples

1️ INNER JOIN – "Only the Matching Ones"

The INNER JOIN returns only the matching records from both tables, discarding non-
matching rows.

Example

SELECT e.employee_id, e.name, d.department_name

FROM employees e

INNER JOIN departments d

ON e.department_id = d.department_id;

Explanation: This query retrieves employees along with their respective

department names, but only if they have a matching department.

Fun Fact:
INNER JOIN is the most commonly used join in SQL! It's like a club entry with a
strict guest list! 🎟

2️ LEFT OUTER JOIN (LEFT JOIN) – "Always Include Left Table"

The LEFT JOIN returns all records from the left table and matching records from the
right table. If no match is found, NULL values are returned.

Example

SELECT e.employee_id, e.name, d.department_name

FROM employees e

LEFT JOIN departments d

ON e.department_id = d.department_id;

Explanation: This query returns all employees and their department names. If an
employee is not assigned to a department, NULL is displayed.

Fun Fact:
If you're looking for employees without a department, you can filter with WHERE
d.department_name IS NULL;

3️ RIGHT OUTER JOIN (RIGHT JOIN) – "Always Include Right Table"

The RIGHT JOIN returns all records from the right table and matching records from
the left table. If no match is found, NULL values are returned.

Example

SELECT e.employee_id, e.name, d.department_name

FROM employees e

RIGHT JOIN departments d

ON e.department_id = d.department_id;

Explanation: This retrieves all departments, along with their employees. If a

department has no employees, NULL is displayed.
 Fun Fact:
LEFT JOIN vs. RIGHT JOIN? They are essentially the same! You can swap table
positions to switch between them.

4️ FULL OUTER JOIN – "Everything on the Menu" 🍽

The FULL JOIN returns all records from both tables. If there is no match, NULL
values are assigned.

Example

SELECT e.employee_id, e.name, d.department_name

FROM employees e

FULL OUTER JOIN departments d

ON e.department_id = d.department_id;

Explanation: This query retrieves all employees and departments, including those
without a match.

Fun Fact:
Some databases (like MySQL) don’t support FULL OUTER JOIN directly! You can
simulate it using LEFT JOIN + UNION + RIGHT JOIN!

5️ CROSS JOIN – "Every Combination Possible"

The CROSS JOIN returns the Cartesian product of the two tables, meaning every row
in the first table is paired with every row in the second table.

Example

SELECT e.name, d.department_name

FROM employees e

CROSS JOIN departments d;

Explanation: This produces all possible combinations of employees and departments.

Fun Fact:
Be careful with CROSS JOIN! If you have 1️0 employees and 1️0 departments, you'll
get 1️00 rows!

6️ SELF JOIN – "Talking to Yourself"

A SELF JOIN is when a table is joined with itself.

Example

SELECT e1️.name AS Employee, e2️.name AS Manager

FROM employees e1️

INNER JOIN employees e2️

ON e1️.manager_id = e2️.employee_id;

Explanation: This finds employees and their managers by joining the employees
table with itself.

Fun Fact:
SELF JOIN is often used in hierarchical data structures like organization charts or
family trees!

7️ NATURAL JOIN – "Let SQL Handle It"

A NATURAL JOIN automatically joins tables based on common column names.

Example

SELECT e.employee_id, e.name, d.department_name

FROM employees e

NATURAL JOIN departments d;

Explanation: Oracle automatically detects the common column (department_id) and

performs the join.

Fun Fact:
If tables have unintended common columns, NATURAL JOIN might give unexpected
results. Proceed with caution!

8️ EQUI JOIN – "Equality-Based Matching"

An EQUI JOIN is a specific case of INNER JOIN where equality (=) is used.

Example

SELECT e.name, d.department_name

FROM employees e, departments d

WHERE e.department_id = d.department_id;

 Explanation: This fetches employees and their department names using an equality
condition.

9️ NON-EQUI JOIN – "Beyond Equality"

A NON-EQUI JOIN uses conditions other than equality, such as <, >, !=.

Example

SELECT e.name, s.grade

FROM employees e

JOIN salary_grades s

ON e.salary BETWEEN s.min_salary AND s.max_salary;

Explanation: This maps employees to salary grades based on salary range.

Performance Considerations and Best Practices 🏎💨

• Use indexes on join columns to boost performance.

• Filter data before joining to improve efficiency.

• Avoid CROSS JOINS unless necessary.

• Use EXPLAIN PLAN to analyze query execution.

Advanced Join Concepts

Joining Multiple Tables

SELECT e.name, d.department_name, s.grade

FROM employees e

JOIN departments d ON e.department_id = d.department_id

JOIN salary_grades s ON e.salary BETWEEN s.min_salary AND s.max_salary;

Conclusion

Joins are essential for SQL queries! Whether it's INNER JOIN for precision, LEFT
JOIN for inclusiveness, or CROSS JOIN for creativity, SQL joins are the backbone
of relational databases!