Add joins documentation

docs/sphinx/source/SQL_Reference.md

@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ to change frequently. This reference is currently also a work in progress to be
 reference/sql_types
 reference/sql_commands
 reference/Functions
+reference/Subqueries
+reference/Joins
 ```
 
 ```{toctree}

docs/sphinx/source/reference/Joins.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,297 @@
+=====
+Joins
+=====
+
+.. _joins:
+
+Joins combine rows from two or more tables based on a related column. FDB Record Layer supports joins using comma-separated table references in the FROM clause with join conditions specified in the WHERE clause.
+
+.. important::
+
+   FDB Record Layer **does not support** standard SQL JOIN keywords (``INNER JOIN``, ``LEFT JOIN``, ``RIGHT JOIN``, ``OUTER JOIN``, etc.). Use comma-separated FROM clause instead.
+
+Basic Join Syntax
+=================
+
+Cross Join (Cartesian Product)
+-------------------------------
+
+List multiple tables separated by commas:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT columns FROM table1, table2
+
+This produces a Cartesian product of all rows from both tables.
+
+Equijoin with WHERE Clause
+---------------------------
+
+Use WHERE clause to specify join conditions:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT columns
+    FROM table1, table2
+    WHERE table1.column = table2.column
+
+This is equivalent to an INNER JOIN in standard SQL.
+
+Examples
+========
+
+Setup
+-----
+
+For these examples, assume we have the following tables:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    CREATE TABLE emp(
+        id BIGINT,
+        fname STRING,
+        lname STRING,
+        dept_id BIGINT,
+        PRIMARY KEY(id)
+    )
+
+    CREATE TABLE dept(
+        id BIGINT,
+        name STRING,
+        PRIMARY KEY(id)
+    )
+
+    CREATE TABLE project(
+        id BIGINT,
+        name STRING,
+        dsc STRING,
+        emp_id BIGINT,
+        PRIMARY KEY(id)
+    )
+
+    INSERT INTO emp VALUES
+        (1, 'Jack', 'Williams', 1),
+        (2, 'Thomas', 'Johnson', 1),
+        (3, 'Emily', 'Martinez', 1),
+        (5, 'Daniel', 'Miller', 2),
+        (8, 'Megan', 'Miller', 3)
+
+    INSERT INTO dept VALUES
+        (1, 'Engineering'),
+        (2, 'Sales'),
+        (3, 'Marketing')
+
+    INSERT INTO project VALUES
+        (1, 'OLAP', 'Support OLAP queries', 3),
+        (2, 'SEO', 'Increase visibility on search engines', 8),
+        (3, 'Feedback', 'Turn customer feedback into items', 5)
+
+Simple Two-Table Join
+----------------------
+
+Join employees with their departments:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT fname, lname
+    FROM emp, dept
+    WHERE emp.dept_id = dept.id
+      AND dept.name = 'Engineering'
+
+.. list-table::
+    :header-rows: 1
+
+    * - :sql:`fname`
+      - :sql:`lname`
+    * - :json:`"Jack"`
+      - :json:`"Williams"`
+    * - :json:`"Thomas"`
+      - :json:`"Johnson"`
+    * - :json:`"Emily"`
+      - :json:`"Martinez"`
+
+Three-Way Join
+--------------
+
+Join across three tables to find departments and their projects:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT dept.name, project.name
+    FROM emp, dept, project
+    WHERE emp.dept_id = dept.id
+      AND project.emp_id = emp.id
+
+.. list-table::
+    :header-rows: 1
+
+    * - :sql:`dept.name`
+      - :sql:`project.name`
+    * - :json:`"Engineering"`
+      - :json:`"OLAP"`
+    * - :json:`"Sales"`
+      - :json:`"Feedback"`
+    * - :json:`"Marketing"`
+      - :json:`"SEO"`
+
+The join conditions create relationships: employees are linked to departments via ``dept_id``, and projects are linked to employees via ``emp_id``.
+
+Join with Subquery
+------------------
+
+Use a derived table (subquery) in a join:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT fname, lname
+    FROM (
+        SELECT fname, lname, dept_id
+        FROM emp
+        WHERE EXISTS (SELECT * FROM project WHERE emp_id = emp.id)
+    ) AS sq, dept
+    WHERE sq.dept_id = dept.id
+      AND dept.name = 'Sales'
+
+.. list-table::
+    :header-rows: 1
+
+    * - :sql:`fname`
+      - :sql:`lname`
+    * - :json:`"Daniel"`
+      - :json:`"Miller"`
+
+This finds employees who are assigned to projects and work in the Sales department.
+
+Nested Joins
+------------
+
+Join subqueries that themselves contain joins:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT sq.name, project.name
+    FROM (
+        SELECT dept.name, emp.id
+        FROM emp, dept
+        WHERE emp.dept_id = dept.id
+    ) AS sq, project
+    WHERE project.emp_id = sq.id
+
+.. list-table::
+    :header-rows: 1
+
+    * - :sql:`sq.name`
+      - :sql:`project.name`
+    * - :json:`"Engineering"`
+      - :json:`"OLAP"`
+    * - :json:`"Sales"`
+      - :json:`"Feedback"`
+    * - :json:`"Marketing"`
+      - :json:`"SEO"`
+
+The subquery first joins employees with departments, then the result is joined with projects.
+
+Join with CTEs
+--------------
+
+Use Common Table Expressions in joins:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    WITH c1(w, z) AS (SELECT id, col1 FROM t1),
+         c2(a, b) AS (SELECT id, col1 FROM t1 WHERE id IN (1, 2))
+    SELECT * FROM c1, c2
+
+This creates two CTEs and joins them using a cross join.
+
+Self-Join
+---------
+
+Join a table to itself:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT * FROM Table1, Table1 WHERE col1 = 10
+
+This self-join can be used to find relationships within the same table. Use aliases to distinguish between the two references:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT t1.fname, t2.fname
+    FROM emp t1, emp t2
+    WHERE t1.dept_id = t2.dept_id
+      AND t1.id < t2.id
+
+Semi-Join with EXISTS
+----------------------
+
+Use EXISTS to implement a semi-join (find rows that have matching rows in another table):
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT fname, lname
+    FROM emp
+    WHERE EXISTS (
+        SELECT * FROM project WHERE emp_id = emp.id
+    )
+
+.. list-table::
+    :header-rows: 1
+
+    * - :sql:`fname`
+      - :sql:`lname`
+    * - :json:`"Emily"`
+      - :json:`"Martinez"`
+    * - :json:`"Daniel"`
+      - :json:`"Miller"`
+    * - :json:`"Megan"`
+      - :json:`"Miller"`
+
+This finds all employees who have at least one project assigned, without returning duplicate employee rows.
+
+Join with User-Defined Functions
+---------------------------------
+
+Join results from user-defined functions:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT A.col1, A.col2, B.col1, B.col2
+    FROM f1(103, 'b') A, f1(103, 'b') B
+    WHERE A.col1 = B.col1
+
+User-defined functions can be used like tables in the FROM clause and joined with join conditions in the WHERE clause.
+
+Important Notes
+===============
+
+Table Aliases
+-------------
+
+Use aliases to:
+
+- Distinguish between multiple references to the same table
+- Shorten long table names
+- Reference columns from specific tables in multi-table joins
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    SELECT e.fname, d.name
+    FROM emp e, dept d
+    WHERE e.dept_id = d.id
+
+Join Conditions
+---------------
+
+- Join conditions should be specified in the WHERE clause
+- Use ``AND`` to combine multiple join conditions and filters
+- Missing join conditions result in a Cartesian product (all combinations)
+
+See Also
+========
+
+* :doc:`sql_commands/DQL/SELECT` - SELECT statement syntax
+* :doc:`sql_commands/DQL/WHERE` - WHERE clause filtering
+* :doc:`Subqueries` - Subqueries and correlated subqueries
+* :doc:`sql_commands/DQL/WITH` - Common Table Expressions
+

yaml-tests/src/test/java/DocumentationQueriesTests.java

@@ -43,4 +43,9 @@ void castDocumentationQueriesTests(YamlTest.Runner runner) throws Exception {
     void vectorDocumentationQueriesTests(YamlTest.Runner runner) throws Exception {
         runner.runYamsql(PREFIX + "/vector-documentation-queries.yamsql");
     }
+
+    @TestTemplate
+    void joinsDocumentationQueriesTests(YamlTest.Runner runner) throws Exception {
+        runner.runYamsql(PREFIX + "/joins-documentation-queries.yamsql");
+    }
 }