performance - SQL INNER JOIN question

Question

I'm creating a query that will display information for a record which is derived from 8 tables. The developer who originally wrote the query used a combination of 'where this equals this' AND 'this equals this' to create the joins.

I have since changed the query to use INNER JOINS. I wondered if my approach was better than utilising a combination of WHERE operators.

On a measure of good practice, is a combination of INNER JOINS a good option or should I be employing a different technique.

Answer 1

From performance point of view, there will not be any difference... atleast not on prominent RDBMS like Sql-server / Oracle... These Database Engine, are capable of identifying both the patterns means the same and use the same execution plan for both...

In my humble opinion both are equally good practice, but you should maintain consistency and proper alignment... Somewhere I heard that where clause are generally used by oracle developers, and inner join by Sql-Server... Not very much sure about that... By now most of the coders are capable of understanding both types of queries...