Unless you know that you need a specific type of join you should probably just use a JOIN by itself. I only use inner and left type of joins when I have a specific need for them. 
thanks eric, so when would you for example use an inner or left join?
i looked up the article but very vague and just wondering if you could give a simple answer to when you would use one or the other?
does any of them make a difference to performance?
many thanks


