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SQL Server JOIN Types Course

Every SQL Server JOIN, explained in an afternoon

A self-paced video course from Steve Stedman: INNER, LEFT, RIGHT and FULL OUTER joins, SEMI and ANTI SEMI joins, CROSS JOIN, CROSS APPLY and OUTER APPLY, exclusions, EQUI vs NON-EQUI joins, multi-table joins, and EXCEPT, INTERSECT and UNION. 19 lessons, 30 short videos, sample code and quizzes, certificate of completion.

$29.99, one-time. Unlimited access that never expires.

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Not sure yet? Watch the preview or book a free 30-minute consultation.

Microsoft T-SQL JOIN Types course card

19

lessons

30

short videos, 51 minutes

6

quizzes plus a certificate

Sample code

in every lesson

More courses from Stedman’s SQL School:

Who this course is for

Developers

Write multi-table queries that return exactly the rows you meant, and explain why a row went missing or showed up twice.

New and accidental DBAs

Read and fix other people’s joins, and replace a slow NOT IN with a join that performs.

Interview candidates

The course opens and closes with the top SQL JOIN interview questions, with the answers worked through on real tables.

What you’ll be able to do

Every lesson is a short video, the sample code behind it and an exercise, so you practise each join before moving on.

Pick the right JOIN every time

INNER, LEFT OUTER, RIGHT OUTER and FULL OUTER JOIN, and exactly which rows each one returns.

Find the rows that do not match

Exclusion joins, SEMI and ANTI SEMI joins, and the join that replaces NOT IN.

Use CROSS APPLY and OUTER APPLY

Run a subquery or table-valued function once for every row, and know when APPLY beats a join.

Join on more than equality

EQUI vs NON-EQUI joins for ranges and dates, and CROSS JOIN when you need every combination.

Combine three or more tables safely

Two INNER JOINs, two LEFT OUTER JOINs, INNER plus OUTER, and two FULL OUTER JOINs in one query.

Use EXCEPT, INTERSECT and UNION

Set operations for the questions a join answers badly: what is in one list but not the other.

Watch a preview

Steve walks through what the SQL Server JOIN Types course covers (from the Stedman Solutions YouTube channel).

Prefer to read first? The free T-SQL JOIN types poster shows every join covered in the course.

Course curriculum

19 lessons, 86 lectures and 30 short videos (51 minutes in total). Every lesson has an overview or video, downloadable sample code and an exercise; six quizzes check your understanding and a certificate of completion is issued at the end.

Course Introduction (7 items, 3:02 video)
  • Introduction (1:07)
  • Venn Diagram and JOIN Types Poster (0:43)
  • Why These are Important
  • What You’ll Learn (0:40)
  • How to Get the Most Out of This Course (0:32)
  • Prerequisites
  • Sample Code Download
Your Goal for This Course (1 item, 0:46 video)
  • Top SQL JOIN Interview Question (0:46)
Lesson 1: Basic SELECT (3 items, 2:39 video)
  • Video Training (2:39)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 2: INNER JOIN (6 items, 4:22 video)
  • Inner Join Overview
  • What is the Join Predicate?
  • Video Lesson – Inner Join (4:22)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
  • Inner Join Quiz
Lesson 3: LEFT OUTER JOIN (5 items, 2:17 video)
  • Left Outer Join Overview
  • Video Lesson – Left Outer Join (2:17)
  • Sample Code
  • Assignment
  • Left Outer Join Quiz
Lesson 4: RIGHT OUTER JOIN (5 items, 2:27 video)
  • Right Outer Join Overview
  • Video Lesson – Right Outer Join (2:27)
  • Sample Code
  • Assignment
  • Difference Between LEFT OUTER JOIN and RIGHT OUTER JOIN
Lesson 5: SEMI JOIN (3 items, 1:45 video)
  • Video Lesson – Semi Join (1:45)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 6: ANTI SEMI JOIN (3 items, 0:36 video)
  • Video Lesson – Anti Semi Join (0:36)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 7: LEFT OUTER JOIN with exclusion (3 items, 1:16 video)
  • Video Lesson (1:16)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 8: RIGHT OUTER JOIN with exclusion (3 items, 0:49 video)
  • Video Lesson (0:49)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 9: FULL OUTER JOIN (4 items, 1:00 video)
  • Overview – Full Outer Join
  • Video Lesson – Full Outer Join (1:00)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 10: FULL OUTER JOIN with exclusion (3 items, 1:08 video)
  • Video Lesson (1:08)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 11: CROSS JOIN (4 items, 1:57 video)
  • Cross Join Overview
  • Video Lesson – Cross Join (1:57)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 12: APPLY intro and CROSS APPLY (5 items, 6:24 video)
  • Cross Apply Overview
  • Video Lesson – Cross Apply (6:24)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
  • Quiz – Cross Apply
Lesson 13: OUTER APPLY (3 items, 0:50 video)
  • Video Lesson – Outer Apply (0:50)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 14: EQUI JOIN vs NON-EQUI JOIN (4 items, 3:10 video)
  • Overview Equi and Non Equi Join
  • Video Lesson Equi and Non Equi Join (3:10)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 15: Two INNER JOINS (4 items, 2:13 video)
  • Two Inner Joins – Why?
  • Video Lesson – Two Inner Joins (2:13)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 16: Two LEFT OUTER JOINS (3 items, 0:57 video)
  • Video Lesson – Two Left Outer Joins (0:57)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 17: INNER and OUTER JOIN (3 items, 0:51 video)
  • Video Lesson – Inner and Outer (0:51)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 18: Two FULL OUTER JOINS (3 items, 0:56 video)
  • Video Lesson – Two Full Outer Joins (0:56)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Lesson 19: EXCEPT, INTERSECT and UNION (3 items, 1:57 video)
  • Video Lesson (1:57)
  • Sample Code
  • Try it yourself
Wrap-up and interview questions (4 items, 5:44 video)
  • End of course Wrap-up (2:58)
  • How to Get The Most Out of This Course Going Forward (0:44)
  • Top SQL JOIN Interview Question (2:02)
  • Other Interview Questions
End of course quizzes and certificate (4 items, 4:11 video)
  • Quiz 1 (1:02)
  • Quiz 2 (1:30)
  • Quiz 3 (1:39)
  • Course Completion Certificate
Enroll Now

19 lessons, 30 videos, sample code and quizzes for $29.99. Unlimited access.

Enroll Now

JOIN types at a glance

Every join in the course, drawn the way the free poster draws it.

Venn diagram of an INNER JOIN: only the rows that match in both tables
INNER JOIN
Venn diagram of a LEFT OUTER JOIN: every row from the left table plus the matching rows from the right
LEFT OUTER JOIN
Venn diagram of a RIGHT OUTER JOIN: every row from the right table plus the matching rows from the left
RIGHT OUTER JOIN
Venn diagram of a FULL OUTER JOIN: all rows from both tables, matched where possible
FULL OUTER JOIN
Venn diagram of a LEFT OUTER JOIN with exclusion: rows in the left table that have no match in the right table
LEFT OUTER JOIN with exclusion
Venn diagram of a FULL OUTER JOIN with exclusion: rows in either table that have no match in the other
FULL OUTER JOIN with exclusion
Venn diagram of a CROSS JOIN: every row of one table combined with every row of the other
CROSS JOIN
Venn diagram of an ANTI SEMI JOIN: rows in the first table with no matching row in the second
ANTI SEMI JOIN

Every join type in the course, with a sample query for each, is on the free T-SQL JOIN types poster.

Steve Stedman, SQL Server consultant and course instructor

Meet your instructor: Steve Stedman

Steve Stedman is the founder of Stedman Solutions and has worked with SQL Server since 1990. He has taught the JOIN types material since 2012 and drew the T-SQL JOIN types poster that this course follows. Most lessons are taught by Steve, with other members of the team contributing.

Day to day he runs Stedman Solutions’ performance tuning and corruption repair practice, so the examples come from real client queries. If you get stuck on a concept, Steve’s mentoring program is available for one-on-one help.

One price, unlimited access

$29.99

One-time payment. Microsoft TSQL JOIN Types Complete Course at Stedman’s SQL School.

  • All 19 lessons, 86 lectures and 30 short videos (51 minutes)
  • Sample code and an exercise for every lesson
  • Six quizzes and a certificate of completion
  • The T-SQL JOIN types poster as a PDF
  • Unlimited access that never expires, future updates included
  • Pay-over-time options are offered at checkout
Enroll Now

Secure checkout on Teachable. Questions? Call (360) 610-7833.

Preview of the free T-SQL JOIN types poster PDF included with the course

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to know SQL already?

A little. You should be comfortable writing a basic SELECT statement; lesson 1 reviews SELECT before the first join.

Which versions of SQL Server does it cover?

SQL Server 2008 through the current version. The T-SQL join syntax taught here works the same on every version in that range, and on Azure SQL.

How long does it take?

There are 51 minutes of video. Plan on three to four hours if you run the sample code, do the exercises and take the quizzes.

Is it live or self-paced?

Self-paced. Every lesson is recorded video you can start the moment you enroll and rewatch any time.

Do I get a certificate?

Yes. A certificate of completion is issued after you finish the end-of-course quizzes.

How long do I have access?

Unlimited access that never expires, including future updates to the course.

Can I pay in installments?

Yes. Teachable’s checkout offers pay-over-time options.

What if I get stuck?

Steve’s mentoring program is available for one-on-one help.

Other ways we can help with SQL Server queries

Free: the T-SQL JOIN types poster

Every join type with a one-line description and a sample query, as a PDF for your wall.

Next course

This course opens and closes with the top JOIN interview questions; the Interview course covers the rest.

Queries still slow with the right JOIN?

Our team tunes the query, the indexes and the server, usually within days.

From the blog

Start the course today

Watch the first lesson tonight and write better joins tomorrow. $29.99, unlimited access.

Enroll Now

Not sure it is the right course? Book a free 30-minute consultation or contact us.