Introduction In this article, we are going to see how a CROSS JOIN works, and we will also make use of this SQL join type to build a poker card game. Database table model For our poker card game application, we have created the ranks and suits database tables: The ranks table defines the ranking of cards, as well as the name and symbol used for each card rank: The suits table describes the four possible categories used by the French playing cards: Cartesian product In the set theory, the Cartesian product... Read More

The post A beginner’s guide to SQL CROSS JOIN appeared first on Vlad Mihalcea.

Here you find information about writing inner joins with the comma operator. It’s the most basic way to combine (join) two tables. There is an alternative syntax that can be used, because in MySQL you can write inner joins in two different ways. Another popular way is it to use the INNER JOIN command or synonymous keywords like CROSS JOIN and JOIN. Please make sure to read our dedicated documentation for more information when you understand the comma operator syntax.

Syntax

The following examples are equivalent to the INNER JOIN …

This tutorial shows you how to write ANSI-Style inner joins with the INNER JOIN keywords. Included are a general description, some syntax examples and a comparison between inner and cross joins.

Note: In MySQL the join keywords JOIN and CROSS JOIN are synonymous with INNER JOIN. That means: All example statements found in this article work fine when you replace INNER JOIN with JOIN or CROSS JOIN.

Syntax

Here are syntax examples for the impatient. Basically, ANSI-style join conditions can be specified with two different keywords: USING and ON. Take a look at the following examples:

-- inner join with USING clause
SELECT *
FROM <firstTable> a INNER JOIN <anotherTable> b
USING(<columnName>)

-- inner join with ON …

By “Good SQL Querying”, I am not referring to “how to make your queries more perfomant.” I am about to go on a mini-rant about how to make readable and self-documenting SQL queries.

One practice that will get me instantly going on a rant is using a comma join. There is NO reason to do the following:

-- uses the sakila sample database
SELECT first_name, last_name, address
FROM customer,address;

What kind of join did the original author intend? A CROSS JOIN? Or did they really want an INNER JOIN and forget the WHERE clause?

The answer: you do not know for sure; you can only guess. Had the query been

SELECT first_name,last_name,address
FROM customer INNER JOIN address;

you would know that the author intended an INNER JOIN; had the query been

SELECT first_name,last_name,address
FROM customer CROSS JOIN address;

you would know that the author intended a CROSS JOIN. I …