SQL | Difference between functions and stored procedures in PL/SQL
Prerequisite:
Differences between Stored procedures(SP) and Functions(User defined functions (UDF)):
-
SP may or may not return a value but UDF must return a value.
Example:SP -> create or replace procedure GEEKS(x int) is y int; begin ..... UDF-> FUNCTION GEEKS(x int) /*return statement so we must return value in function */ RETURN int IS y int; BEGIN .....
- SP can have input/output parameter but UDF only has input parameter.
Example:SP -> CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE Factorial(x IN NUMBER, result OUT NUMBER) is begin .... UDF -> FUNCTION Factorial(x IN NUMBER) /* only input parameter */ return NUMBER is result NUMBER; begin .....
- We can call UDF from SP but cannot call SP from a function.
Example:
Calling UDF cal() inside SP square() but reverse is not possible. set serveroutput on; declare a int; c int; function cal(temp int) return int as ans int; begin ans:=temp* temp; return ans; end; procedure square(x in int, ans out int) is begin dbms_output.put_line('calling function in procedure'); ans:= cal(x); end; begin a:=6; square(a, c); dbms_output.put_line('the answer is '|| c); end;
OUTPUT:
calling function in procedure the answer is 36
- We cannot use SP in SQL statement like SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, MERGE etc. but we can use them with UDF.
- We can use try-catch exception handling in SP but we cannot do that in UDF.
- We can use transaction in SP but it is not possible in UDF.
Attention reader! Don’t stop learning now. Get hold of all the important CS Theory concepts for SDE interviews with the CS Theory Course at a student-friendly price and become industry ready.