Difference Between Right Join and Right Outer Join

Joins in a Database (SQL) are mostly used for combining data or the rows of two or more table records that are based on the same or common attribute. There are various types of Joins like Right Join, Left Join, Full Join, etc. Each join has its own syntax and data-returning capability. In this article, we will see the information about Right Join and Right Outer Join along with the example, also we will see their syntax and lastly, we will understand their differences with some unique parameters.

Right Join

Right Join in SQL is used to return all the records from the rightmost table and the matching records from the leftmost table. In some scenarios, there may be a situation where there are no marches, then it will still include the rows from the right table but it will show the NULL values for the columns that are associated with the left table.

In the context of the query, below is the syntax of the Left Join.

Syntax:

SELECT columns 
FROM left_table 
RIGHT JOIN right_table ON 
join_condition;

Now, let's see the example of Right Join:

Example of Right Join

Employee_Data Table

Department_Data Table

Query for Right Join

SELECT Employee_Data.employee_id, Employee_Data.employee_name, Department_Data.department_name
FROM Employee_Data
RIGHT JOIN Department_Data ON 
Employee_Data.department_id = Department_Data.department_id;

Output:

Explanation

In the above example, Right Join includes all the rows from the right table (Department_Data) and matched them with the corresponding rows of the left table (Employee_Data). If there is no match, then the NULL value for the column is been displayed. From the above example, the 'Linux' department in the Department_Data table has no associated employee in the Employee_Table, so the NULL value is been displayed.

Right Outer Join

The Right Outer Join is mostly similar to the Right Join, and both these joins are interchangeably used. The keyword used here is "Outer", which is also optional and doesn't have any severe impact on the result set of the query.

In the context of the query, below is the syntax of the Right Outer Join.

Syntax

SELECT columns
FROM left_table 
RIGHT OUTER JOIN right_table ON 
join_condition;

Example of Right Outer Join

Let's consider the same tables used in the above Right Join Example:

Query for Right Outer Join

SELECT Employee_Data.employee_id, Employee_Data.employee_name, Department_Data.department_name 
FROM Employee_Data 
RIGHT OUTER JOIN Department_Data ON  
Employee_Data.department_id = Department_Data.department_id;

Output:

Explanation

In the above example, all the records from the right table (Department_Data) are preserved, and the matching records or data from the right-most table (Employee_Data) are included. If there is no match, then the NULL values are displayed for the columns of the left table. The department 'DBMS' in the Department_Data table has the 2 employees (Aditi, Vaishnavi) associated with it, so their information is included in the result. The 'Linux' department has no employees, so the NULL values are displayed in the resultant table.

Right Join V/S Right Outer Join

Conclusion

In conclusion, both right join and right outer join are quite the same thing in SQL. They both have different names for the same query operation. The right join matches the data from the right table to the left table and if the data does not match to the right table it fills the NULL value. Whereas the right outer join is the formal name of the right join operation, the right join is most commonly used. Understanding that these terms are the same, only the name differs is important to avoid further confusion and effectively use the join operation to combine data from tables.