title: What's the best way to get related data from their ID's in a single query?
body: <p>I have a table where each row has a few fields that have ID's that relate to some other data from some other tables.</p>
  
  <p>Let's say it's called <code>people</code>, and each person has the ID of a <code>city</code>, <code>state</code> and <code>country</code>.</p>
  
  <p>So there will be three more tables, <code>cities</code>, <code>states</code> and <code>countries</code> where each has an ID and a name.</p>
  
  <p>When I'm selecting a person, what's the easiest way to get the <strong>names</strong> of the <code>city</code>, <code>state</code> and <code>country</code> in a single query?</p>
  
  <p><strong>Note:</strong> I know this is possible with joins, however as there are more related tables, the nested joins makes the query hard to read, and I'm wondering if there is a cleaner way. It should also be possible for the person to have those fields empty.</p>