Is there a way to do a FULL OUTER JOIN in MySQL?

SQL FULL OUTER JOIN Keyword

As per the name the SQL FULL JOIN returns all the records from both of the tables. Its like combining 2 tables even with allowance of empty values in columns.

Let’s take a look at the syntax.

SELECT column/columns
FROM table_left FULL OUTER JOIN table_right
ON table_left.column= table_right.column WHERE condition;

NOTE: You can use FULL OUTER JOIN or FULL  JOIN, both are same.

Let’s take a look at the example and see the results. That will make more sense than just looking at the syntax.

SELECT c.CustomerName, o.OrderID
FROM Customers AS c
FULL OUTER JOIN Orders AS o ON c.CustomerID=o.CustomerID
ORDER BY c.CustomerName;

I have included example tables in DEMO but unfortunately MySQL doesn’t have FULL OUTER JOIN keyword. So there is no working demo available. However, we can emulate them in the following format to get the same results. 

Take a look at the following code:

SELECT * FROM Customers
LEFT JOIN Orders ON Customers.CustomerID = Orders.CustomerID
UNION
SELECT * FROM Customers
RIGHT JOIN Orders ON Customers.CustomerID = Orders.CustomerID

Take a look at the explanation given by MySQL here.

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