Is there a correct syntax for writing a query?

Is there a best syntax for writing a query (specifically in sql server with
t-sql)? I've written a few with the JOIN keywords but I mostly write them
using '=', '*=', etc... Is there a more 'sql-compliant' way or is it just a
matter of preference?
THanks.*= and =* are old syntaxes and might lead to ambiguous queries.
SQL Server 2005 does not support this syntax.
Use the ansi-92 syntax of left outer and right outer join.
You can refer to BOL for more information on this.
Hope this helps.|||Use the Join keyword.
JOIN is part of the ANSI syntax.
BOL 2005 says:
The outer join operators (*= and =*) are not supported when the
compatibility level of the database is set to 90.
David Lundell
Principal Consultant and Trainer
www.MutuallyBeneficial.com
David@.MutuallyBeneficial.com
"VMI" <VMI@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:243B3E9F-5935-46BE-A6A6-A1C51DF6B1F7@.microsoft.com...
> Is there a best syntax for writing a query (specifically in sql server
> with
> t-sql)? I've written a few with the JOIN keywords but I mostly write them
> using '=', '*=', etc... Is there a more 'sql-compliant' way or is it just
> a
> matter of preference?
> THanks.|||> Is there a best syntax for writing a query (specifically in sql server with
> t-sql)? I've written a few with the JOIN keywords but I mostly write them
> using '=', '*=', etc... Is there a more 'sql-compliant' way or is it just
a
> matter of preference?
>
There are situations where *= can actually give you bad results. Stay away
from it.|||Can you give an example. Say you have the same value repeated in 3 rows for
a
column, if you want to remove duplicates and still get 3 rows. Then what
value do you want to have in that column?|||Oops.. wrong post :(