In relational algebra, the join operation is used to combine tuples from two or more relations based on a common attribute. The join operation is given special attention because it is one of the most common operations used in database systems, and it is essential for complex queries that involve multiple tables. There are several variations of the join operation, including:
Inner join: The inner join returns only the tuples that have matching values in both relations.
Left outer join: The left outer join returns all the tuples from the left relation and the matching tuples from the right relation. If there is no match in the right relation, the result will contain null values.
Right outer join: The right outer join returns all the tuples from the right relation and the matching tuples from the left relation. If there is no match in the left relation, the result will contain null values.
Full outer join: The full outer join returns all the tuples from both relations. If there is no match in either relation, the result will contain null values.
Natural join: The natural join is a variant of the inner join where the join condition is based on the attributes with the same name in both relations.
Cross join: The cross join returns the Cartesian product of the two relations, which means every tuple from the first relation is combined with every tuple from the second relation.
It is possible to express every join operation in terms of cross product, selection, and projection. For example, the natural join can be expressed as a cross product followed by a selection operation that compares the common attributes of the two relations. Similarly, the left outer join can be expressed as an inner join followed by a union of the unmatched tuples from the left relation with null values for the attributes of the right relation. However, the join operation is usually implemented as a separate operation in database systems for efficiency and ease of use.
