Join order overview

The Derby optimizer usually makes a good choice about join order. This section discusses the performance implications of join order.

In a join operation involving two tables, Derby scans the tables in a particular order. Derby accesses rows in one table first, and this table is now called the outer table.

Then, for each qualifying row in the outer table, Derby looks for matching rows in the second table, which is called the inner table.

Derby accesses the outer table once, and the inner table probably many times (depending on how many rows in the outer table qualify).

This leads to a few general rules of thumb about join order:
Related concepts
Join strategies