Good read, Steve. Quick, clean, accurate, and on point.
One thing worth mentioning when using APPLY with a table valued function is the difference between CROSS APPLY and OUTER APPLY.
When CROSS apply is used, no row is returned from a query unless the function actually returns a row (even if the row only contains a NULL). This is analogous to an INNER JOIN.
When OUTER apply is used, rows are returned even if the function itself returns nothing. This is analogous to a LEFT JOIN.
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