MySQL Many to Many query confusion - mysql

Question

I've looked at a bunch of questions and solutions regarding many to many queries. I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. Maybe I'm not completely understanding the keywords in MySQL. But...
I have 3 tables. The first table is a list of peoples contact information. The second table is a list of mailing list categories. The third table is an associative table that holds the id's from the first and second table. How would I write a MySQL query to get all the contacts from the contact table that match the VIP list id (which I already have)?
Table 1 (contacts)
id | name | email
-----------------------------
1 | John | john#gmail.com
-----------------------------
2 | Jane | jane#gmail.com
-----------------------------
Table 2 (list_type)
id | list_name |
-----------------
1 | VIP's |
-----------------
2 | Generic |
-----------------
Table 3 (list_contact_joiner)
contact_id | list_type_id |
----------------------------
1 | 2 |
----------------------------
2 | 1 |
----------------------------
This is what I tried but get a syntax error
$listID = 1;
SELECT list_contact_joiner.contact_id
FROM list_contact_joiner
WHERE list_id = $listID AS lcj
INNER JOIN contact_lists AS cl
ON cl.id = lcj.contact_id

Answer 1

SELECT c.*
FROM contacts c
JOIN list_contact_joiner j on j.contact_id = c.id
JOIN list_type t on j.list_type_id = t.id
WHERE t.list_name = 'VIP''s'
If you already have the id of VIP's then you need to join only 2 tables
SELECT c.*
FROM contacts c
JOIN list_contact_joiner j on j.contact_id = c.id
WHERE j.list_type_id = 1

Answer 2

Yes the join statement is not correct. It should be something as
select
c.name,
c.email,
lt.list_type
from list_contact_joiner lcj
join contacts c on c.id = lcj.contact_id
join list_type lt on lt.id = lcj.list_type_id
where
lt.id = ?
If you are looking for data with $listID = 1; then the place holder is
lt.id = ?

Answer 3

Your syntax error is because all the table specification (FROM and JOIN) has to occur before the WHERE and you got your alias syntax a little messed up - this should work better:
$listID = 1;
SELECT lcj.contact_id
FROM list_contact_joiner AS lcj
INNER JOIN contact_lists AS cl
ON cl.id = lcj.contact_id
WHERE lcj.list_id = $listID
But if all you are trying to do is get the contact_id then you don't need to do any join at all...
SELECT contact_id
FROM list_contact_joiner
WHERE list_id = $listID
If you need the rest of the contact information then you might try this:
SELECT contact.*
FROM list_contact_joiner
JOIN contacts ON contacts.id = list_contact_joiner.contact_id
WHERE list_id = $listID
Note that you still don't need to get the list_type table at all.