Difference between INNER JOIN and LEFT SEMI JOIN

Question

What is the difference between an INNER JOIN and LEFT SEMI JOIN?

In the scenario below, why am I getting two different results?

The INNER JOIN result set is a lot larger. Can someone explain? I am trying to get the names within table_1 that only appear in table_2.

SELECT name
FROM table_1 a
    INNER JOIN table_2 b ON a.name=b.name

SELECT name
FROM table_1 a
    LEFT SEMI JOIN table_2 b ON (a.name=b.name)

Answer 1

An INNER JOIN returns the columns from both tables. A LEFT SEMI JOIN only returns the records from the left-hand table. It's equivalent to (in standard SQL):

SELECT name
FROM table_1 a
WHERE EXISTS(
    SELECT * FROM table_2 b WHERE (a.name=b.name))

If there are multiple matching rows in the right-hand column, an INNER JOIN will return one row for each match on the right table, while a LEFT SEMI JOIN only returns the rows from the left table, regardless of the number of matching rows on the right side. That's why you're seeing a different number of rows in your result.

I am trying to get the names within table_1 that only appear in table_2.

Then a LEFT SEMI JOIN is the appropriate query to use.

Answer 2

Suppose there are 2 tables TableA and TableB with only 2 columns (Id, Data) and following data:

TableA:

+----+---------+
| Id |  Data   |
+----+---------+
|  1 | DataA11 |
|  1 | DataA12 |
|  1 | DataA13 |
|  2 | DataA21 |
|  3 | DataA31 |
+----+---------+

TableB:

+----+---------+
| Id |  Data   |
+----+---------+
|  1 | DataB11 |
|  2 | DataB21 |
|  2 | DataB22 |
|  2 | DataB23 |
|  4 | DataB41 |
+----+---------+

Inner Join on column Id will return columns from both the tables and only the matching records:

.----.---------.----.---------.
| Id |  Data   | Id |  Data   |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  1 | DataA11 |  1 | DataB11 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  1 | DataA12 |  1 | DataB11 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  1 | DataA13 |  1 | DataB11 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  2 | DataA21 |  2 | DataB21 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  2 | DataA21 |  2 | DataB22 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  2 | DataA21 |  2 | DataB23 |
'----'---------'----'---------'

Left Join (or Left Outer join) on column Id will return columns from both the tables and matching records with records from left table (Null values from right table):

.----.---------.----.---------.
| Id |  Data   | Id |  Data   |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  1 | DataA11 |  1 | DataB11 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  1 | DataA12 |  1 | DataB11 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  1 | DataA13 |  1 | DataB11 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  2 | DataA21 |  2 | DataB21 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  2 | DataA21 |  2 | DataB22 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  2 | DataA21 |  2 | DataB23 |
:----+---------+----+---------:
|  3 | DataA31 |    |         |
'----'---------'----'---------'

Right Join (or Right Outer join) on column Id will return columns from both the tables and matching records with records from right table (Null values from left table):

┌────┬─────────┬────┬─────────┐
│ Id │  Data   │ Id │  Data   │
├────┼─────────┼────┼─────────┤
│  1 │ DataA11 │  1 │ DataB11 │
│  1 │ DataA12 │  1 │ DataB11 │
│  1 │ DataA13 │  1 │ DataB11 │
│  2 │ DataA21 │  2 │ DataB21 │
│  2 │ DataA21 │  2 │ DataB22 │
│  2 │ DataA21 │  2 │ DataB23 │
│    │         │  4 │ DataB41 │
└────┴─────────┴────┴─────────┘

Full Outer Join on column Id will return columns from both the tables and matching records with records from left table (Null values from right table) and records from right table (Null values from left table):

╔════╦═════════╦════╦═════════╗
║ Id ║  Data   ║ Id ║  Data   ║
╠════╬═════════╬════╬═════════╣
║  - ║         ║    ║         ║
║  1 ║ DataA11 ║  1 ║ DataB11 ║
║  1 ║ DataA12 ║  1 ║ DataB11 ║
║  1 ║ DataA13 ║  1 ║ DataB11 ║
║  2 ║ DataA21 ║  2 ║ DataB21 ║
║  2 ║ DataA21 ║  2 ║ DataB22 ║
║  2 ║ DataA21 ║  2 ║ DataB23 ║
║  3 ║ DataA31 ║    ║         ║
║    ║         ║  4 ║ DataB41 ║
╚════╩═════════╩════╩═════════╝

Left Semi Join on column Id will return columns only from left table and matching records only from left table:

┌────┬─────────┐
│ Id │  Data   │
├────┼─────────┤
│  1 │ DataA11 │
│  1 │ DataA12 │
│  1 │ DataA13 │
│  2 │ DataA21 │
└────┴─────────┘

Answer 3

Tried in Hive and got the below output

table1

1,wqe,chennai,india

2,stu,salem,india

3,mia,bangalore,india

4,yepie,newyork,USA

table2

1,wqe,chennai,india

2,stu,salem,india

3,mia,bangalore,india

5,chapie,Los angels,USA

Inner Join

SELECT * FROM table1 INNER JOIN table2 ON (table1.id = table2.id);

1 wqe chennai india 1 wqe chennai india

2 stu salem india 2 stu salem india

3 mia bangalore india 3 mia bangalore india

Left Join

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

1 wqe chennai india 1 wqe chennai india

2 stu salem india 2 stu salem india

3 mia bangalore india 3 mia bangalore india

4 yepie newyork USA NULL NULL NULL NULL

Left Semi Join

SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT SEMI JOIN table2 ON (table1.id = table2.id);

1 wqe chennai india

2 stu salem india

3 mia bangalore india

note: Only records in left table are displayed whereas for Left Join both the table records displayed