Question

I have an SQL query that executes a LEFT JOIN on another table, then outputs all results that could be coupled into a designated table. I then have a second SQL query that executes the LEFT JOIN again, then outputs the results that could not be coupled to a designated table. In code, this is something like:

INSERT INTO coupledrecords
SELECT b.col1, b.col2... s.col1, s.col2... FROM bigtable AS b
LEFT JOIN smallertable AS s
ON criterium
WHERE s.col1 IS NOT NULL

INSERT INTO notcoupledrecords
SELECT b.col1, b.col2... bigtable AS b
LEFT JOIN smallertable AS s
ON criterium
WHERE s.col1 IS NULL

My question: I now have to execute the JOIN two times, in order to achieve what I want. I have a feeling that this is twice as slow as it could be. Is this true, and if yes, is there a way to do it more efficiently?

Answer 1

If you’re inserting the different results into 2 different tables, you will need the 2 different queries.

The only thing I’d suggest, is that the “coupledrecords” query can just be an INNER JOIN:

INSERT INTO coupledrecords
SELECT b.col1, b.col2... s.col1, s.col2... FROM bigtable AS b
INNER JOIN smallertable AS s 
ON criterium

If you were inserting into the SAME table, with a field to indicate whether or not it was a matched record or not, then yes you could do it as one query.