query = 'SELECT tbl_users.id, tbl_users.name, tbl_somethingelse.something
FROM tbl_users, tbl_somethingelse
WHERE....' (you get the idea)
what are the tradeoffs between using this and using 'joins' (which I don't know how to use!)
thanks
Andrew
I think there may be some query optimization issues, at the margins. Generally, you can execute the same logic with either syntax. Unless you're dealing with extremely complex queries and gigantic tables, I don't think you would be able to observe any difference in execution.
JOIN syntax makes it a little easier to recognize whether a join is a left, right, inner, outer or equi-join.
Joins are not at all difficult to learn. Take a look at these references: