LEFT JOIN with NULL result rows in SQL - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to select all customers and their orders, including customers with 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'

ALEFT JOIN

BRIGHT JOIN

CINNER JOIN

DFULL JOIN

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using INNER JOIN excludes customers without orders.

Using RIGHT JOIN or FULL JOIN changes which rows are included.

The LEFT JOIN returns all rows from the left table (customers) and matching rows from the right table (orders). If there is no match, order columns will be NULL.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to find customers with no orders using LEFT JOIN.

SQL

SELECT customers.name FROM customers LEFT JOIN orders ON customers.id = orders.customer_id WHERE orders.order_id [1];

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

AIS NOT NULL

BIS NULL

C= 0

D<> NULL

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using = NULL or <> NULL which are invalid in SQL.

Using IS NOT NULL which finds customers with orders.

When using LEFT JOIN, customers without orders have orders.order_id as NULL. Filtering with IS NULL finds those customers.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the query to include all customers and their orders, showing NULL for missing orders.

SQL

SELECT c.name, o.order_id FROM customers c [1] orders o ON c.id = o.customer_id WHERE o.order_id > 100;

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 customers without orders.

Filtering on right table columns in WHERE removes NULL rows.

Using LEFT JOIN keeps all customers. But the WHERE clause filters out NULL orders, so to keep NULLs, the condition should be in the ON clause or use LEFT JOIN with care.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to select all customers and their orders, showing NULL for missing orders, and order by customer name.

SQL

SELECT [1], [2] FROM customers LEFT JOIN orders ON customers.id = orders.customer_id ORDER BY customers.name;

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

Acustomers.name

Borders.order_id

Ccustomers.id

Dorders.customer_id

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Selecting wrong columns like IDs that don't show meaningful info.

Not ordering by customer name as requested.

Selecting customers.name and orders.order_id shows customer names and their orders. LEFT JOIN ensures all customers appear, even without orders (NULL order_id).

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a query that lists all customers, their order IDs, and filters to show only customers with no orders.

SQL

SELECT [1], [2] FROM customers [3] orders ON customers.id = orders.customer_id WHERE orders.order_id IS NULL;

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

Acustomers.name

Borders.order_id

CLEFT JOIN

DINNER JOIN

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using INNER JOIN excludes customers without orders.

Not checking for NULL order_id to find customers without orders.

This query uses LEFT JOIN to include all customers, selects customer names and order IDs, and filters for customers with no orders by checking orders.order_id IS NULL.

Practice

1. What does a LEFT JOIN do in SQL?

easy

A. Returns all rows from the left table and matched rows from the right table, NULL if no match.

B. Returns only rows that have matching values in both tables.

C. Returns all rows from the right table and matched rows from the left table.

D. Deletes rows from the left table that have no match in the right table.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand LEFT JOIN behavior

   A LEFT JOIN keeps all rows from the left table regardless of matches in the right table.

2. Step 2: Identify NULLs for unmatched rows

   If there is no matching row in the right table, the result shows NULL for right table columns.

3. Final Answer:

   Returns all rows from the left table and matched rows from the right table, NULL if no match. -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   LEFT JOIN = all left rows + NULL for no match [OK]

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

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing LEFT JOIN with INNER JOIN
• Thinking unmatched rows are dropped
• Assuming NULLs appear in left table columns

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax for a LEFT JOIN in SQL?

easy

A. SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT OUTER JOIN table2 WHERE table1.id = table2.id;

B. SELECT * FROM table1 JOIN LEFT table2 ON table1.id = table2.id;

C. SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 USING (id);

D. SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 ON table1.id = table2.id;

Solution

1. Step 1: Review standard LEFT JOIN syntax

   The correct syntax is: SELECT columns FROM left_table LEFT JOIN right_table ON condition.

2. Step 2: Check each option

   SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 ON table1.id = table2.id; matches the correct syntax exactly. SELECT * FROM table1 JOIN LEFT table2 ON table1.id = table2.id; has JOIN LEFT which is invalid. SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT OUTER JOIN table2 WHERE table1.id = table2.id; is invalid because JOIN requires an ON clause (syntax error). SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 USING (id); is correct syntax with parentheses.

3. Final Answer:

   SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 ON table1.id = table2.id; -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   LEFT JOIN syntax = LEFT JOIN ... ON ... [OK]

Hint: Use LEFT JOIN ... ON ... for correct syntax [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Swapping JOIN and LEFT keywords
• Using WHERE instead of ON for join condition
• Omitting parentheses in USING clause

3. Given tables Employees and Departments with data:

Employees:
id | name | dept_id
1 | Alice | 10
2 | Bob | 20
3 | Carol | NULL

Departments:
dept_id | dept_name
10 | Sales
20 | HR
30 | IT

What is the result of this query?

SELECT e.name, d.dept_name FROM Employees e LEFT JOIN Departments d ON e.dept_id = d.dept_id;

medium

A. [{"name": "Alice", "dept_name": "Sales"}, {"name": "Bob", "dept_name": "HR"}]

B. [{"name": "Alice", "dept_name": "Sales"}, {"name": "Bob", "dept_name": "HR"}, {"name": "Carol", "dept_name": null}]

C. [{"name": "Alice", "dept_name": "Sales"}, {"name": "Bob", "dept_name": "HR"}, {"name": "Carol", "dept_name": "IT"}]

D. [{"name": "Alice", "dept_name": null}, {"name": "Bob", "dept_name": null}, {"name": "Carol", "dept_name": null}]

Solution

1. Step 1: Match Employees with Departments by dept_id

   Alice's dept_id 10 matches Sales, Bob's 20 matches HR, Carol's NULL has no match.

2. Step 2: Apply LEFT JOIN behavior

   All employees appear. For Carol, no matching department, so dept_name is NULL.

3. Final Answer:

   [{"name": "Alice", "dept_name": "Sales"}, {"name": "Bob", "dept_name": "HR"}, {"name": "Carol", "dept_name": null}] -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

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

Hint: LEFT JOIN shows NULL for unmatched right table rows [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Omitting rows with NULL join keys
• Assuming unmatched rows get default values
• Confusing INNER JOIN output with LEFT JOIN

4. Consider this SQL query:

SELECT a.id, b.value FROM A a LEFT JOIN B b ON a.id = b.a_id WHERE b.value > 10;

Why might this query return fewer rows than table A has?

medium

A. Because the query syntax is invalid and causes an error.

B. Because LEFT JOIN only returns rows with matching b.value > 10.

C. Because the WHERE clause filters out rows where b.value is NULL, removing unmatched rows.

D. Because the ON condition is incorrect and causes no matches.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand LEFT JOIN with WHERE filter

   LEFT JOIN keeps all rows from A, but WHERE filters after join.

2. Step 2: Effect of WHERE on NULLs from unmatched rows

   Rows with no match have b.value as NULL, and WHERE b.value > 10 excludes NULLs, removing those rows.

3. Final Answer:

   Because the WHERE clause filters out rows where b.value is NULL, removing unmatched rows. -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   WHERE filters NULLs after LEFT JOIN, reducing rows [OK]

Hint: WHERE on right table column after LEFT JOIN filters out NULLs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking LEFT JOIN always keeps all left rows regardless of WHERE
• Confusing ON and WHERE filtering effects
• Assuming query syntax error causes fewer rows

5. You have two tables:

Orders:
order_id | customer_id
1 | 101
2 | 102
3 | 103

Customers:
customer_id | name
101 | John
102 | Jane

You want to list all orders with customer names, but show 'Unknown' if no customer found.

Which SQL query correctly achieves this?

hard

A. SELECT o.order_id, COALESCE(c.name, 'Unknown') AS customer_name FROM Orders o LEFT JOIN Customers c ON o.customer_id = c.customer_id;

B. SELECT o.order_id, IFNULL(c.name, 'Unknown') AS customer_name FROM Orders o INNER JOIN Customers c ON o.customer_id = c.customer_id;

C. SELECT o.order_id, c.name FROM Orders o RIGHT JOIN Customers c ON o.customer_id = c.customer_id;

D. SELECT o.order_id, CASE WHEN c.name IS NULL THEN 'Unknown' ELSE c.name END FROM Orders o JOIN Customers c ON o.customer_id = c.customer_id;

Solution

1. Step 1: Use LEFT JOIN to keep all orders

   LEFT JOIN keeps all orders even if no matching customer exists.

2. Step 2: Replace NULL customer names with 'Unknown'

   Use COALESCE to show 'Unknown' when c.name is NULL.

3. Final Answer:

   SELECT o.order_id, COALESCE(c.name, 'Unknown') AS customer_name FROM Orders o LEFT JOIN Customers c ON o.customer_id = c.customer_id; -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   LEFT JOIN + COALESCE handles missing customers [OK]

Hint: Use LEFT JOIN with COALESCE to replace NULLs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using INNER JOIN excludes orders without customers
• Using RIGHT JOIN reverses table roles incorrectly
• Forgetting to handle NULL customer names