Difference between "on .. and" and "on .. where" in SQL Left Join?

jack.li picture jack.li · Sep 13, 2012 · Viewed 9.9k times · Source

Sql statement.

1.select a.* from A a left join B b on a.id =b.id and a.id=2;

2.select a.* from A a left join B b on a.id =b.id where a.id=2;

what is the difference of this two sql statement?

Answer

Vishwanath Dalvi picture Vishwanath Dalvi · Sep 13, 2012
create table A(id int);
create table B(id int);

INSERT INTO A VALUES(1);
INSERT INTO A VALUES(2);
INSERT INTO A VALUES(3);

INSERT INTO B VALUES(1);
INSERT INTO B VALUES(2);
INSERT INTO B VALUES(3);

SELECT * FROM A;
SELECT * FROM B;

id
-----------
1
2
3

id
-----------
1
2
3

Filter on the JOIN to prevent rows from being added during the JOIN process.

select a.*,b.*
from   A a left join B b 
on     a.id =b.id and a.id=2;

id          id
----------- -----------
1           NULL
2           2
3           NULL

WHERE will filter after the JOIN has occurred.

select a.*,b.* 
from   A a left join B b 
on     a.id =b.id 
where  a.id=2;

id          id
----------- -----------
2           2