Outer Join

Definitions

1. A SQL join that returns all rows from one or both tables even when there is no matching row in the other table, filling in NULLs for the missing side. LEFT OUTER JOIN keeps all rows from the left table, RIGHT OUTER JOIN from the right, and FULL OUTER JOIN from both.

   In plain English: A way to combine two database tables that keeps all records from one side even if there's no matching record on the other side.

   Example: "Use a LEFT OUTER JOIN from customers to orders — we need to see customers who haven't placed any orders yet, not just the ones who have."

Related Terms

• index
• stored procedure
• trigger
• foreign key
• Join
• Key-Value Store
• Left Join
• Right Join
• Scalar
• Search Index
• Subquery
• MariaDB
• CockroachDB