SQL LEFT JOIN Keyword

SQL LEFT JOIN Keyword

The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all rows from the left table (table_name1), even if there are no matches in the right table (table_name2).

SQL LEFT JOIN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name1
LEFT JOIN table_name2
ON table_name1.column_name=table_name2.column_name

PS: In some databases LEFT JOIN is called LEFT OUTER JOIN.

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SQL LEFT JOIN Example

The "Persons" table:

P_IdLastNameFirstNameAddressCity1HansenOlaTimoteivn 10Sandnes2SvendsonToveBorgvn 23Sandnes3PettersenKariStorgt 20Stavanger

The "Orders" table:

O_IdOrderNoP_Id177895324467833224561424562153476415

Now we want to list all the persons and their orders - if any, from the tables above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT Persons.LastName, Persons.FirstName, Orders.OrderNo
FROM Persons
LEFT JOIN Orders
ON Persons.P_Id=Orders.P_Id
ORDER BY Persons.LastName

The result-set will look like this:

LastNameFirstNameOrderNoHansenOla22456HansenOla24562PettersenKari77895PettersenKari44678SvendsonTove 

The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all the rows from the left table (Persons), even if there are no matches in the right table (Orders).