Assuming you're joining on columns with no duplicates, which is a very common case:
An inner join of A and B gives the result of A intersect B, i.e. the inner part of a Venn diagram intersection.
An outer join of A and B gives the results of A union B, i.e. the outer parts of a Venn diagram union.
Examples
Suppose you have two tables, with a single column each, and data as follows:
A B
- -
1 3
2 4
3 5
4 6
Note that (1,2) are unique to A, (3,4) are common, and (5,6) are unique to B.
Inner join
An inner join using either of the equivalent queries gives the intersection of the two tables, i.e. the two rows they have in common.
select * from a INNER JOIN b on a.a = b.b;
select a.*, b.* from a,b where a.a = b.b;
a | b
--+--
3 | 3
4 | 4
Left outer join
A left outer join will give all rows in A, plus any common rows in B.
select * from a LEFT OUTER JOIN b on a.a = b.b;
select a.*, b.* from a,b where a.a = b.b(+);
a | b
--+-----
1 | null
2 | null
3 | 3
4 | 4
Right outer join
A right outer join will give all rows in B, plus any common rows in A.
select * from a RIGHT OUTER JOIN b on a.a = b.b;
select a.*, b.* from a,b where a.a(+) = b.b;
a | b
-----+----
3 | 3
4 | 4
null | 5
null | 6
Full outer join
A full outer join will give you the union of A and B, i.e. all the rows in A and all the rows in B. If something in A doesn't have a corresponding datum in B, then the B portion is null, and vice versa.
select * from a FULL OUTER JOIN b on a.a = b.b;
a | b
-----+-----
1 | null
2 | null
3 | 3
4 | 4
null | 6
null | 5
SELECT DATEADD(dd, 0, DATEDIFF(dd, 0, @your_date))
for example
SELECT DATEADD(dd, 0, DATEDIFF(dd, 0, GETDATE()))
gives me
2008-09-22 00:00:00.000
Pros:
- No varchar<->datetime conversions required
- No need to think about locale
Best Solution
ON DELETE CASCADE is fine, but only when the dependent rows are really a logical extension of the row being deleted. For example, it's OK for DELETE ORDERS to delete the associated ORDER_LINES because clearly you want to delete this order, which consists of a header and some lines. On the other hand, DELETE CUSTOMER should not delete the associated ORDERS because ORDERS are important in their own right, they are not just attributes of a customer.
One way to think about this is: if I issue DELETE X and it also deletes Y, will I be happy or unhappy? And if I issue DELETE X and am told "cannot delete X because Y exists" will I be glad of the protection, or irritated at the inconvenience?