Is an index required for columns in ON clause?

Posted by newbie on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by newbie
Published on 2011-06-26T01:18:28Z Indexed on 2011/06/26 8:22 UTC
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Do I have to create an index on columns referenced in Joins? E.g.

SELECT
  *
FROM
  left_table
INNER JOIN
  right_table
ON
  left_table.foo = right_table.bar
WHERE
  ...

Should I create indexes on left_table(foo), right_table(bar), or both?

I noticed different results when I used EXPLAIN (Postgresql) with and without indexes and switching around the order of the comparison

(right_table.bar = left_table.foo)

I know for sure that indexes are used for the left of the WHERE clause but I am wondering whether I need indexes for columns listed in ON clauses.

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