title: SQL Server NOLOCK and joins
body: <p>Background: I have a performance-critical query I'd like to run and I don't care about dirty reads.</p>
  
  <p>My question is; If I'm using joins, do I have to specify the NOLOCK hint on those as well?</p>
  
  <p>For instance; is:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT * FROM table1 a WITH (NOLOCK)
  INNER JOIN table2 b WITH (NOLOCK) ON a.ID = b.ID
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Equivalent to:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT * FROM table1 a WITH (NOLOCK)
  INNER JOIN table2 b ON a.ID = b.ID
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Or will I need to specify the <code>(NOLOCK)</code> hint on the join to ensure I'm not locking the joined table?</p>