[sql] Difference between natural join and inner join

  • An inner join is one where the matching row in the joined table is required for a row from the first table to be returned
  • An outer join is one where the matching row in the joined table is not required for a row from the first table to be returned
  • A natural join is a join (you can have either natural left or natural right) that assumes the join criteria to be where same-named columns in both table match

I would avoid using natural joins like the plague, because natural joins are:

  • not standard sql [SQL 92] and therefore not portable, not particularly readable (by most SQL coders) and possibly not supported by various tools/libraries
  • not informative; you can't tell what columns are being joined on without referring to the schema
  • your join conditions are invisibly vulnerable to schema changes - if there are multiple natural join columns and one such column is removed from a table, the query will still execute, but probably not correctly and this change in behaviour will be silent
  • hardly worth the effort; you're only saving about 10 seconds of typing