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Data & Analytics · Advanced

LATERAL Join

A join in which the right-hand table expression can reference columns from preceding tables in the FROM clause.

Definition

LATERAL lets table functions or subqueries be evaluated per row of the left table. It is used with FLATTEN in Snowflake and works like CROSS APPLY and OUTER APPLY in SQL Server.

Exam tip

SQL Server's CROSS APPLY is equivalent to a LATERAL join.

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