In this article, I am going to explain the concept of Stored Procedure and Function in SQL Server. This detailed blog will cover the following topics as follows

  1. Introduction
  2. What is the Stored Procedure in the SQL Server?
    • Key Points
    • Benefits of using Stored Procedures
    • Types of Stored Procedures
  3. What is the Function in SQL Server?
    • Key Points
    • Benefits of using Functions
    • Types of Functions
  4. Difference between Stored Procedure and Function In SQL Server
  5. Conclusion

Stored Procedure in SQL Server

As per Microsoft, "A stored procedure in SQL Server is a group of one or more Transact-SQL statements or a reference to a Microsoft .NET Framework common runtime language (CLR) method".

Key Points

Benefits of using Stored Procedures

Types of Stored Procedures

This section describes the types of stored procedures in SQL Server.

Functions in SQL Server

As per Microsoft, "Like functions in programming languages, SQL Server user-defined functions are routines that accept parameters, perform an action, such as a complex calculation, and return the result of that action as a value. The return value can either be a single scalar value or a result set".

Key Points

  1. Functions must have a name, which cannot start with any special characters.
  2. The function can only be used within a SELECT, WHERE, or JOIN clause.
  3. Functions can only return a single value or a table.
  4. Functions only accept input parameters.
  5. Functions can't use a TRY...CATCH block for error handling.

Benefits of using Functions in SQL Server

Types of Functions

This section describes the types of Functions in SQL Server.

Stored Procedure VS Function in SQL Server

The Stored Procedure and Function are often confusing for beginners and experienced alike, but they serve different purposes. Now, let's look at the quick difference between Stored Procedure and Function in SQL Server.

S. No. Key Points Stored Procedure Function
1 Objective Stored procedures are used to perform tasks such as modifying data or executing complex business logic. They can perform a variety of SQL operations, including calling other stored procedures or functions. Functions are used to compute and return a single value or a table.
2 Return Values A stored procedure can use output parameters to return data in addition to returning zero, one, or more result sets. Functions can only return a single value or a table. Table-valued functions return a table, while scalar functions return a single value.
3 Syntax and Execution Execute using the EXEC or EXECUTE statement. Execute as part of the query and can be used within the SELECT, WHERE, or JOIN clause.
4 Temp Table vs Table Variable A stored procedure can contain both temporary tables and table variables. Only table variables can be used within a function.
5 Transaction Control Stored procedures can contain transaction control statements. (BEGIN TRANSACTION, COMMIT, ROLLBACK) Functions can't contain transaction control commands.
6 Error Handling. Stored Procedure uses TRY...CATCH block for error handling. Functions can't use TRY...CATCH block for error handling. It has limited error-handling capabilities.
7 Performance Performance may vary depending on complexity and execution plan. Less efficient in some cases.
8 Drawback Modifying the database state (for example, changing data or structure) can be one of its drawbacks. There seems to be no shortcoming in this. 
EXEC dbo.StoredProcedureName 
    @Param1 = 'Value';
SELECT dbo.FunctionName(@Param1);

See you in the next blog, till then, take care and be happy learning.

You can connect with me @

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com

Conclusion

In this blog, we have discussed the difference between Stored Procedure and Function in SQL Server.

I hope you enjoyed this blog. Follow C# Corner to learn more new and amazing things about SQL Server.

Thanks for reading.