The LEFT JOIN
keyword returns all records from the left table (table1), and the
matching records from the right table (table2). The result is 0 records from the right side,
if there is no match.
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table1
LEFT JOIN table2
ON table1.column_name = table2.column_name;
The following SQL statement will select all customers, and any orders they might have:
SELECT Customers.CustomerName, Orders.OrderID
FROM Customers
LEFT JOIN Orders
ON Customers.CustomerID = Orders.CustomerID
ORDER BY Customers.CustomerName;
Note: The LEFT JOIN
keyword returns all records from the
left table (Customers), even if there are no matches in the right table
(Orders).