Materialized view vs Table with SP

Why Use a Table with a Stored Procedure?

• The company wants full control over when the data is updated.
• The report may need to include additional logic or transformations that are easier to implement in a stored procedure.
• Real-time data is not required, but flexibility in updating the data is important.

Implementation

1. Create the Table 

   CREATE TABLE DailySalesReport (
   
   StoreID INT,
   
   TotalSales DECIMAL(18, 2),
   
   AverageSales DECIMAL(18, 2),
   
   TotalTransactions INT
   
   );

2. Create the Stored Procedure

   CREATE PROCEDURE UpdateDailySalesReport
   
   AS
   
   BEGIN
   
   TRUNCATE TABLE DailySalesReport;
   
   
   
   INSERT INTO DailySalesReport (StoreID, TotalSales, AverageSales, TotalTransactions)
   
   SELECT
   
   StoreID,
   
   SUM(SalesAmount) AS TotalSales,
   
   AVG(SalesAmount) AS AverageSales,
   
   COUNT(TransactionID) AS TotalTransactions
   
   FROM Sales
   
   GROUP BY StoreID;
   
   END;

3. Execute the Stored Procedure Run the stored procedure manually or schedule it using a job scheduler: 

   EXEC UpdateDailySalesReport;

4. Query the Table 

   SELECT * FROM DailySalesReport WHERE StoreID = 101;

Advantages

• Full control over when the data is updated.
• Flexibility to add custom logic or transformations in the stored procedure.
• No additional storage overhead for maintaining a separate materialized view.

Disadvantages

• Query performance may be slower compared to a materialized view, especially for large datasets.
• Requires manual execution or scheduling of the stored procedure.

Choose Materialized View If:

• You need fast query performance for read-heavy workloads.
• The data does not need to be real-time.
• You want to simplify querying by precomputing results.

Choose Table with Stored Procedure If:

• You need full control over when the data is updated.
• The report requires complex logic or transformations.
• You want to avoid additional storage overhead for a materialized view.

Both Materialized Views and Tables with Stored Procedures (SP) have their own use cases, advantages, and disadvantages. The choice between them depends on the specific requirements of your application, such as performance, data freshness, and complexity.

There is a common case for example a retail company wants to generate a daily sales report for all stores. The report includes:

• Total sales per store.
• Average sales per product category.
• Total number of transactions.

The company needs to decide whether to use a Materialized View or a Table with a Stored Procedure to generate this report.

Why Use a Materialized View?

• The sales report is generated daily and does not require real-time data.
• The report is read-heavy, and performance is critical.
• The materialized view can be refreshed once a day during off-peak hours.

Implementation

1. Create the Materialized View

CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW DailySalesReport AS
SELECT 
    StoreID,
    SUM(SalesAmount) AS TotalSales,
    AVG(SalesAmount) AS AverageSales,
    COUNT(TransactionID) AS TotalTransactions
FROM Sales
GROUP BY StoreID;

Refresh the Materialized View Schedule a daily refresh using a database job (e.g., in PostgreSQL or Oracle):

REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW DailySalesReport;

Query the Materialized View

SELECT * FROM DailySalesReport WHERE StoreID = 101;

Advantages

• Fast query performance for read-heavy operations.
• Simplifies querying by precomputing the results.
• Reduces the load on the database during peak hours.

Disadvantages

• Data is not real-time; it is only as fresh as the last refresh.
• Requires additional storage for the materialized view.