LEFT JOIN vs RIGHT JOIN decision in SQL - Interactive Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to select all customers and their orders, even if they have no orders.

SQL

SELECT customers.name, orders.order_id FROM customers [1] orders ON customers.id = orders.customer_id;

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AINNER JOIN

BLEFT JOIN

CRIGHT JOIN

DFULL JOIN

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using INNER JOIN will exclude customers without orders.

Using RIGHT JOIN will keep all orders, not all customers.

LEFT JOIN returns all rows from the left table (customers) and matching rows from the right table (orders). If no match, NULLs appear.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to select all orders and their customers, even if some orders have no customer info.

SQL

SELECT orders.order_id, customers.name FROM orders [1] customers ON orders.customer_id = customers.id;

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

ARIGHT JOIN

BINNER JOIN

CLEFT JOIN

DFULL JOIN

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using INNER JOIN excludes orders without customers.

Using RIGHT JOIN keeps all customers, not all orders.

LEFT JOIN returns all rows from the left table (orders) and matching rows from the right table (customers). If no match, NULLs appear.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the join to get all employees and their departments, even if some employees have no department.

SQL

SELECT employees.name, departments.name FROM employees [1] departments ON employees.dept_id = departments.id;

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

ARIGHT JOIN

BINNER JOIN

CCROSS JOIN

DLEFT JOIN

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using INNER JOIN excludes employees without departments.

RIGHT JOIN keeps all departments, not employees.

LEFT JOIN keeps all employees even if they don't belong to a department. INNER JOIN excludes employees without departments.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to select all products and their suppliers, even if some products have no supplier info.

SQL

SELECT products.name, suppliers.name FROM products [1] suppliers ON products.supplier_id [2] suppliers.id;

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

ALEFT JOIN

B=

C!=

DRIGHT JOIN

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '!=' in ON condition causes wrong matches.

RIGHT JOIN keeps all suppliers, not products.

LEFT JOIN keeps all products. The ON condition uses '=' to match supplier IDs.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to select all orders and their shipping info, even if some orders have no shipping data.

SQL

SELECT orders.id, shipping.status, shipping.date FROM orders [1] shipping ON orders.ship_id [2] shipping.id AND shipping.status [3] 'delivered';

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

ALEFT JOIN

B=

C!=

DRIGHT JOIN

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using RIGHT JOIN keeps all shipping info, not orders.

Using WHERE for the status filter (instead of ON) would exclude orders without shipping.

LEFT JOIN keeps all orders. ON uses '=' to match ship_id and != to only include non-delivered shipping, with NULLs otherwise.

Practice

1. Which JOIN type keeps all rows from the first (left) table, even if there is no matching row in the second (right) table?

easy

A. RIGHT JOIN

B. INNER JOIN

C. LEFT JOIN

D. FULL JOIN

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand LEFT JOIN behavior

   LEFT JOIN returns all rows from the first table and matching rows from the second table. If no match, NULLs appear for second table columns.

2. Step 2: Compare with RIGHT JOIN

   RIGHT JOIN keeps all rows from the second table, not the first. INNER JOIN only returns matching rows. FULL JOIN returns all rows from both tables.

3. Final Answer:

   LEFT JOIN -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   LEFT JOIN keeps all left table rows [OK]

Hint: LEFT JOIN keeps all from first table, RIGHT JOIN from second [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing LEFT JOIN with RIGHT JOIN
• Thinking INNER JOIN keeps unmatched rows
• Assuming FULL JOIN keeps only one table's rows

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to perform a RIGHT JOIN between tables Employees and Departments on Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID?

easy

A. SELECT * FROM Employees RIGHT JOIN Departments ON Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID;

B. SELECT * FROM Employees LEFT JOIN Departments ON Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID;

C. SELECT * FROM Employees RIGHT JOIN Departments WHERE Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID;

D. SELECT * FROM Employees JOIN Departments ON Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID;

Solution

1. Step 1: Check JOIN syntax correctness

   RIGHT JOIN requires ON clause to specify join condition. SELECT * FROM Employees RIGHT JOIN Departments ON Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID; uses correct syntax with ON clause.

2. Step 2: Identify errors in other options

   SELECT * FROM Employees LEFT JOIN Departments ON Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID; uses LEFT JOIN, not RIGHT JOIN. SELECT * FROM Employees RIGHT JOIN Departments WHERE Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID; uses WHERE instead of ON, which is incorrect for JOIN condition. SELECT * FROM Employees JOIN Departments ON Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID; uses JOIN without specifying LEFT or RIGHT, defaults to INNER JOIN.

3. Final Answer:

   SELECT * FROM Employees RIGHT JOIN Departments ON Employees.DeptID = Departments.ID; -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   RIGHT JOIN needs ON clause [OK]

Hint: RIGHT JOIN syntax requires ON, not WHERE [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using WHERE instead of ON for join condition
• Confusing LEFT JOIN with RIGHT JOIN syntax
• Omitting JOIN type defaults to INNER JOIN

3. Given tables Authors and Books, what will be the result of this query?

SELECT Authors.Name, Books.Title FROM Authors LEFT JOIN Books ON Authors.ID = Books.AuthorID;

Assuming Authors has 3 rows and Books has 2 rows, with one author having no books, what will the output include?

medium

A. Only authors who have books, excluding authors without books

B. All 3 authors with their book titles; NULL for authors without books

C. All books with their authors; NULL for books without authors

D. All authors and all books, matched and unmatched

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand LEFT JOIN output

   LEFT JOIN keeps all rows from Authors (left table). For authors without matching books, Books.Title will be NULL.

2. Step 2: Analyze given data

   Authors has 3 rows, Books has 2 rows. One author has no books, so that author appears with NULL for book title.

3. Final Answer:

   All 3 authors with their book titles; NULL for authors without books -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   LEFT JOIN keeps all left rows, fills NULLs for no match [OK]

Hint: LEFT JOIN keeps all left rows, unmatched right columns are NULL [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking unmatched left rows are excluded
• Confusing LEFT JOIN with INNER JOIN
• Assuming unmatched right rows appear in LEFT JOIN

4. You wrote this query but it returns fewer rows than expected:

SELECT * FROM Orders RIGHT JOIN Customers ON Orders.CustomerID = Customers.ID;

What is the likely mistake?

medium

A. Using ON instead of WHERE for join condition

B. Missing WHERE clause to filter rows

C. Not specifying table aliases

D. Using RIGHT JOIN instead of LEFT JOIN when Orders is the main table

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify which table's rows to keep

   If Orders is the main table and you want all its rows, LEFT JOIN should be used, not RIGHT JOIN.

2. Step 2: Understand RIGHT JOIN effect

   RIGHT JOIN keeps all rows from Customers (right table), so if Orders has rows without matching Customers, those rows are excluded.

3. Final Answer:

   Using RIGHT JOIN instead of LEFT JOIN when Orders is the main table -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Use LEFT JOIN to keep all left table rows [OK]

Hint: Use LEFT JOIN to keep all rows from first table [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing LEFT and RIGHT JOIN roles
• Expecting RIGHT JOIN to keep left table rows
• Ignoring join direction impact on row count

5. You have two tables: Students (left) and Enrollments (right). You want a list of all students, including those not enrolled in any course, showing NULL for missing enrollment data.
Which query is best and why?

Option A: SELECT * FROM Students LEFT JOIN Enrollments ON Students.ID = Enrollments.StudentID;
Option B: SELECT * FROM Enrollments RIGHT JOIN Students ON Students.ID = Enrollments.StudentID;

hard

A. Option A, because LEFT JOIN keeps all students and matches enrollments

B. Option B, because RIGHT JOIN keeps all enrollments and matches students

C. Option A, but it excludes students without enrollments

D. Option B, but it excludes students without enrollments

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify which table's rows to keep

   You want all students, even those without enrollments, so keep all rows from Students (left table).

2. Step 2: Choose JOIN type accordingly

   LEFT JOIN keeps all rows from Students and matches enrollments or shows NULL if none. RIGHT JOIN would keep all enrollments, not all students.

3. Final Answer:

   Option A, because LEFT JOIN keeps all students and matches enrollments -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   LEFT JOIN keeps all left table rows [OK]

Hint: Keep main table first, use LEFT JOIN to keep all its rows [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using RIGHT JOIN but expecting all left table rows
• Switching table order without adjusting JOIN type
• Assuming RIGHT JOIN keeps left table rows