Forget about the specifics - in this case it's Maslow's hammer. Different types of joins exist for a reason - they address different requirements. Using one t

Forget about the specifics - in this case it's Maslow's hammer. Different types of joins exist for a reason - they address different requirements. Using one type of join even when those different requirements need to be met is suboptimal. In LEFT JOIN's case, it's usually not fatal (i.e. completely unable to meet the requirements) but it will definitely make things perform slower, be more complex to maintain, be harder to explain why it was chosen to other engineers (see OP), etc. Don't leave tools in your toolbox.