Difference between Subquery and Correlated Subquery

Question

Is the following piece of SQL Query a normal query or a Correlated Subquery ??

SELECT UserID,
       FirstName,
       LastName,
       DOB,
       GFName,
       GLName,
       LoginName,
       LoginEffectiveDate,
       LoginExpiryDate,
       Password,
       Email,
       ReportingTo,
       Mobile,
       CommunicationPreference,
       IsActive
FROM   (SELECT row_number() OVER (ORDER BY FirstName) AS Row,
               UserID,
               FirstName,
               LastName,
               DOB,
               GFName,
               GLName,
               LoginName,
               LoginEffectiveDate,
               LoginExpiryDate,
               Password,
               Email,
               ReportingTo,
               Mobile,
               CommunicationPreference,
               IsActive
        FROM   DivakarUserRegistration)  T

Also, can someone state the difference between the both

Answer 1

Correlated Subquery is a sub-query that uses values from the outer query. In this case the inner query has to be executed for every row of outer query.

See example here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlated_subquery

Simple subquery doesn't use values from the outer query and is being calculated only once:

SELECT id, first_name 
FROM student_details 
WHERE id IN (SELECT student_id
FROM student_subjects 
WHERE subject= 'Science'); 

CoRelated Subquery Example -

Query To Find all employees whose salary is above average for their department

 SELECT employee_number, name
       FROM employees emp
       WHERE salary > (
         SELECT AVG(salary)
           FROM employees
           WHERE department = emp.department);

Answer 2

Above example is not Co-related Sub-Query. It is Derived Table / Inline-View since i.e, a Sub-query within FROM Clause.

A Corelated Sub-query should refer its parent(main Query) Table in it. For example See find the Nth max salary by Co-related Sub-query:

SELECT Salary 
FROM Employee E1
WHERE N-1 = (SELECT COUNT(*)
             FROM Employee E2
             WHERE E1.salary <E2.Salary) 

Co-Related Vs Nested-SubQueries.

Technical difference between Normal Sub-query and Co-related sub-query are:

1. Looping: Co-related sub-query loop under main-query; whereas nested not; therefore co-related sub-query executes on each iteration of main query. Whereas in case of Nested-query; subquery executes first then outer query executes next. Hence, the maximum no. of executes are NXM for correlated subquery and N+M for subquery.

2. Dependency(Inner to Outer vs Outer to Inner): In the case of co-related subquery, inner query depends on outer query for processing whereas in normal sub-query, Outer query depends on inner query.

3.Performance: Using Co-related sub-query performance decreases, since, it performs NXM iterations instead of N+M iterations. ¨ Co-related Sub-query Execution.

For more information with examples :

http://dotnetauthorities.blogspot.in/2013/12/Microsoft-SQL-Server-Training-Online-Learning-Classes-Sql-Sub-Queries-Nested-Co-related.html

Answer 3

A subquery is a select statement that is embedded in a clause of another select statement.

EX:

select ename, sal 
from emp  where sal > (select sal 
                       from emp where ename ='FORD');

A Correlated subquery is a subquery that is evaluated once for each row processed by the outer query or main query. Execute the Inner query based on the value fetched by the Outer query all the values returned by the main query are matched. The INNER Query is driven by the OUTER Query.

Ex:

select empno,sal,deptid 
from emp e 
where sal=(select avg(sal) 
           from emp where deptid=e.deptid);

DIFFERENCE

The inner query executes first and finds a value, the outer query executes once using the value from the inner query (subquery)

Fetch by the outer query, execute the inner query using the value of the outer query, use the values resulting from the inner query to qualify or disqualify the outer query (correlated)

For more information : http://www.oraclegeneration.com/2014/01/sql-interview-questions.html

Answer 4

CORRELATED SUBQUERIES: Is evaluated for each row processed by the Main query. Execute the Inner query based on the value fetched by the Outer query. Continues till all the values returned by the main query are matched. The INNER Query is driven by the OUTER Query

Ex:

SELECT empno,fname,sal,deptid FROM emp e WHERE sal=(SELECT AVG(sal) FROM emp WHERE deptid=e.deptid)

The Correlated subquery specifically computes the AVG(sal) for each department.

SUBQUERY: Runs first,executed once,returns values to be used by the MAIN Query. The OUTER Query is driven by the INNER QUERY

Answer 5

when it comes to subquery and co-related query both have inner query and outer query the only difference is in subquery the inner query doesn't depend on outer query, whereas in co-related inner query depends on outer.

Answer 6

I think below explanation will help to you.. differentiation between those: Correlated subquery is an inner query referenced by main query (outer query) such that inner query considered as being excuted repeatedly.

non-correlated subquery is a sub query that is an independent of the outer query and it can executed on it's own without relying on main outer query.

plain subquery is not dependent on the outer query,

Answer 7

In an SQL query, if the inner query executes for every row of the outer query. If the inner query is executed for once and the result is consumed by the outer query, then it is called as non co-related query.

Correlated sub-queries usually correspond to normal join queries, i.e. join queries that have no sub-queries, and can usually be expressed as such. It is sometimes recommended that they are translated into such join queries, because most SQL DBMSs will execute them .....

Answer 8

As a SQL student, what helped me understand the difference in a subquery and a correlated subquery is that there is usually a reference to both queries in the WHERE clause.

For example, when looking at all the other solutions on this post you might notice a trend:

1. where deptid=e.deptid notice the e. which is the main query
2. WHERE department = emp.department notice the emp. which is the main query
3. WHERE E1.salary <E2.Salary this one labels both E1. as the main query and E2. as the correlated subquery.

I do not see a reference to both the main query and the subquery in the WHERE clause of the question, so no, I would say this is not a correlated subquery.

Thank you to everyone in this post!