diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala
index 97cf83d897a8d..d36947e6d538e 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala
@@ -75,6 +75,37 @@ case class OrderedDistribution(ordering: Seq[SortOrder]) extends Distribution {
   def clustering: Set[Expression] = ordering.map(_.child).toSet
 }
 
+/**
+ * Describes how an operator's output is split across partitions. The `satisfies`,
+ * `compatibleWith`, and `guarantees` methods describe relationships between child partitionings,
+ * target partitionings, and [[Distribution]]s. These relations are described more precisely in
+ * their individual method docs, but at a high level:
+ *
+ *  - `satisfies` is a relationship between partitionings and distributions.
+ *  - `compatibleWith` is relationships between an operator's child output partitionings.
+ *  - `guarantees` is a relationship between a child's existing output partitioning and a target
+ *     output partitioning.
+ *
+ *  Diagrammatically:
+ *
+ *            +--------------+
+ *            | Distribution |
+ *            +--------------+
+ *                    ^
+ *                    |
+ *               satisfies
+ *                    |
+ *            +--------------+                  +--------------+
+ *            |    Child     |                  |    Target    |
+ *       +----| Partitioning |----guarantees--->| Partitioning |
+ *       |    +--------------+                  +--------------+
+ *       |            ^
+ *       |            |
+ *       |     compatibleWith
+ *       |            |
+ *       +------------+
+ *
+ */
 sealed trait Partitioning {
   /** Returns the number of partitions that the data is split across */
   val numPartitions: Int
@@ -87,12 +118,50 @@ sealed trait Partitioning {
    */
   def satisfies(required: Distribution): Boolean
 
+  /**
+   * Returns true iff we can say that the partitioning scheme of this [[Partitioning]] guarantees
+   * the same partitioning scheme described by `other`. If a `A.guarantees(B)`, then repartitioning
+   * the child's output according to `B` will be unnecessary. `guarantees` is used as a performance
+   * optimization to allow the exchange planner to avoid redundant repartitionings. By default,
+   * a partitioning only guarantees partitionings that are equal to itself (i.e. the same number
+   * of partitions, same strategy (range or hash), etc).
+   *
+   * In order to enable more aggressive optimization, this strict equality check can be relaxed.
+   * For example, say that the planner needs to repartition all of an operator's children so that
+   * they satisfy the [[AllTuples]] distribution. One way to do this is to repartition all children
+   * to have the [[SinglePartition]] partitioning. If one of the operator's children already happens
+   * to be hash-partitioned with a single partition then we do not need to re-shuffle this child;
+   * this repartitioning can be avoided if a single-partition [[HashPartitioning]] `guarantees`
+   * [[SinglePartition]].
+   *
+   * The SinglePartition example given above is not particularly interesting; guarantees' real
+   * value occurs for more advanced partitioning strategies. SPARK-7871 will introduce a notion
+   * of null-safe partitionings, under which partitionings can specify whether rows whose
+   * partitioning keys contain null values will be grouped into the same partition or whether they
+   * will have an unknown / random distribution. If a partitioning does not require nulls to be
+   * clustered then a partitioning which _does_ cluster nulls will guarantee the null clustered
+   * partitioning. The converse is not true, however: a partitioning which clusters nulls cannot
+   * be guaranteed by one which does not cluster them. Thus, in general `guarantees` is not a
+   * symmetric relation.
+   *
+   * Another way to think about `guarantees`: if `A.guarantees(B)`, then any partitioning of rows
+   * produced by `A` could have also been produced by `B`.
+   */
+  def guarantees(other: Partitioning): Boolean = this == other
+
   /**
    * Returns true iff we can say that the partitioning scheme of this [[Partitioning]]
    * guarantees the same partitioning scheme described by `other`.
+   *
+   * Compatibility of partitionings is only checked for operators that have multiple children
+   * and that require a specific child output [[Distribution]], such as joins.
+   *
+   * Intuitively, partitionings are compatible if they route the same partitioning key to the same
+   * partition. For instance, two hash partitionings are only compatible if they produce the same
+   * number of output partitionings and hash records according to the same hash function and
+   * same partitioning key schema.
    */
-  // TODO: Add an example once we have the `nullSafe` concept.
-  def guarantees(other: Partitioning): Boolean
+  def compatibleWith(other: Partitioning): Boolean
 }
 
 object Partitioning {
@@ -102,10 +171,10 @@ object Partitioning {
       case Seq(a) => true
       case Seq(a, b) =>
         if (a.numPartitions != b.numPartitions) {
-          assert(!a.guarantees(b) && !b.guarantees(a))
+          assert(!a.compatibleWith(b) && !b.compatibleWith(a))
           false
         } else {
-          a.guarantees(b) && b.guarantees(a)
+          a.compatibleWith(b) && b.compatibleWith(a)
         }
     }.forall(_ == true)
   }
@@ -117,7 +186,7 @@ case class UnknownPartitioning(numPartitions: Int) extends Partitioning {
     case _ => false
   }
 
-  override def guarantees(other: Partitioning): Boolean = false
+  override def compatibleWith(other: Partitioning): Boolean = false
 }
 
 case object SinglePartition extends Partitioning {
@@ -125,7 +194,7 @@ case object SinglePartition extends Partitioning {
 
   override def satisfies(required: Distribution): Boolean = true
 
-  override def guarantees(other: Partitioning): Boolean = other match {
+  override def compatibleWith(other: Partitioning): Boolean = other match {
     case SinglePartition => true
     case _ => false
   }
@@ -136,7 +205,7 @@ case object BroadcastPartitioning extends Partitioning {
 
   override def satisfies(required: Distribution): Boolean = true
 
-  override def guarantees(other: Partitioning): Boolean = other match {
+  override def compatibleWith(other: Partitioning): Boolean = other match {
     case BroadcastPartitioning => true
     case _ => false
   }
@@ -163,7 +232,7 @@ case class HashPartitioning(expressions: Seq[Expression], numPartitions: Int)
     case _ => false
   }
 
-  override def guarantees(other: Partitioning): Boolean = other match {
+  override def compatibleWith(other: Partitioning): Boolean = other match {
     case o: HashPartitioning =>
       this.clusteringSet == o.clusteringSet && this.numPartitions == o.numPartitions
     case _ => false
@@ -201,7 +270,7 @@ case class RangePartitioning(ordering: Seq[SortOrder], numPartitions: Int)
     case _ => false
   }
 
-  override def guarantees(other: Partitioning): Boolean = other match {
+  override def compatibleWith(other: Partitioning): Boolean = other match {
     case o: RangePartitioning => this == o
     case _ => false
   }
@@ -248,8 +317,8 @@ case class PartitioningCollection(partitionings: Seq[Partitioning])
    * Returns true if any `partitioning` of this collection guarantees
    * the given [[Partitioning]].
    */
-  override def guarantees(other: Partitioning): Boolean =
-    partitionings.exists(_.guarantees(other))
+  override def compatibleWith(other: Partitioning): Boolean =
+    partitionings.exists(_.compatibleWith(other))
 
   override def toString: String = {
     partitionings.map(_.toString).mkString("(", " or ", ")")
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/Exchange.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/Exchange.scala
index 82867b466627f..123417e28e379 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/Exchange.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/Exchange.scala
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ private[sql] case class EnsureRequirements(sqlContext: SQLContext) extends Rule[
         val newChildren = operator.children.zip(operator.requiredChildDistribution).map {
           case (child, requiredDistribution) =>
             val targetPartitioning = canonicalPartitioning(requiredDistribution)
-            if (child.outputPartitioning.guarantees(targetPartitioning)) {
+            if (child.outputPartitioning.compatibleWith(targetPartitioning)) {
               child
             } else {
               Exchange(targetPartitioning, child)
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/PlannerSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/PlannerSuite.scala
index f7aac569ad467..5582caa0d366e 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/PlannerSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/PlannerSuite.scala
@@ -242,8 +242,8 @@ class PlannerSuite extends SparkFunSuite with SQLTestUtils {
     assert(rightPartitioning.satisfies(distribution))
     // However, these partitionings are not compatible with each other, so we still need to
     // repartition both inputs prior to performing the join:
-    assert(!leftPartitioning.guarantees(rightPartitioning))
-    assert(!rightPartitioning.guarantees(leftPartitioning))
+    assert(!leftPartitioning.compatibleWith(rightPartitioning))
+    assert(!rightPartitioning.compatibleWith(leftPartitioning))
     val inputPlan = DummySparkPlan(
       children = Seq(
         DummySparkPlan(outputPartitioning = leftPartitioning),