Final answer:
Left and right outer joins in SQL are determined by the order of tables in the FROM clause, not the join condition's location.
Step-by-step explanation:
Actually, the notion that left and right outer joins specify which table the outer join should be applied to based on their location in the join condition is a misconception. In SQL, the distinction between left and right outer joins lies in the order of the tables mentioned in the FROM clause, not the join condition.
A left outer join includes all records from the table mentioned first in the FROM clause (the left table), and the matching records from the second table (the right table). Conversely, a right outer join includes all records from the second table (the right table), and the matching records from the first table (the left table).
The join condition, expressed in the WHERE clause or ON clause, dictates how records from both tables are matched. Therefore, regardless of the condition's complexity, the choice between left and right outer join is based solely on the order of tables in the FROM clause.