"union" vs. left join - Mailing list pgsql-sql

From Emi Lu
Subject "union" vs. left join
Date
Msg-id 49AD926E.3020406@encs.concordia.ca
Whole thread Raw
Responses Re: "union" vs. left join  (ries van Twisk <pg@rvt.dds.nl>)
List pgsql-sql
Good morning,

Would it be possible to know that whether "union" is quicker than "left 
join" in a general sense?

Queries:
========================
(1) union
select a.*, b.value
from      a
left join b   union
select a.*, c.value
from      a
left join c


(2) left join
select distinct a.*,  case when ... then     b.value  else     c.value
from      a
left join b
left join c


Will (1) be more efficient than (2) or vice versa? Or it really depends 
on data


Thanks a lot!
Lu Ying






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