What Is a Stored Procedure in SQL Server and Why Use it?

Last updated: 16th February 2025

Here, in this article I’ll explain in detail about the advantages and disadvantages of using Stored Procedure in SQL Server. In-addition, I'll share examples of Strored Procedure. In-fact it’s common among all RDBMS’s that follows SQL standards.

Syntax

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[Procedure_Name]
    @Input_Parameter1 NUMERIC,
    @Output_Parameter2 VARCHAR(10) OUTPUT -- OPTIONAL

    AS
    BEGIN
        -- SQL Statements...
        RETURN
    END

Here's an example: SQL Server Stored Procedure - Check if Data Exists in Table Else Insert New Data

Advantages of Stored Procedures

Stored Procedures are among the most popular, reliable, and widely used database objects. As expected, they come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

First, let us understand its advantages.

* Developer Friendly (Reusability)

Stored Procedures Time-Saving Benefits: Developers can save significant time by not having to write queries multiple times in applications. Stored Procedures allow developers to write SQL statements once and use them repeatedly. This enables sharing data multiple times in a distributed environment.

- For example, Consider an organization where both the Accounts and HR departments need access to employee data. Instead of writing similar queries for each department, a single Stored Procedure can be used to provide the necessary data to both. This not only saves time but also ensures consistency across departments.

Separation of Business Logic: Application developers can sometimes keep the business logic separate from the main application and any changes done in the procedure will avoid recompilation of the entire application.

- For example, suppose an e-commerce application has a Stored Procedure to calculate discounts based on various criteria. If the discount logic changes, developers can update the Stored Procedure without recompiling the entire application. This ensures that the changes take effect immediately and reduces downtime.

* Improve Performance

Reducing Server Load and Bandwidth Stress: Stored Procedures are highly beneficial to servers, as they minimize unnecessary burdens. An online application can transmit thousands of data points simultaneously, potentially overloading the bandwidth and server.

- For example, imagine an e-commerce platform where thousands of users are placing orders simultaneously. This can significantly stress both the bandwidth and the server, slowing down the application. However, by using a Stored Procedure, the application can efficiently handle these requests. The Stored Procedure processes only the essential data, minimizing the strain on server resources and bandwidth.

Optimizing Data Processing: A Stored Procedure reduces stress on the bandwidth and server by accepting a limited and meaningful amount of data through its predefined parameters, which is then processed by the procedure itself.

Consider a web application that needs to generate reports based on user data. Instead of transmitting large datasets over the network, the application can send specific parameters to a Stored Procedure. The Stored Procedure processes the data on the server and returns only the necessary results. This approach not only reduces network traffic but also ensures faster processing and response times.

Here's an example Stored Procedure for the above scenario.

CREATE PROCEDURE GenerateUserReport
    @StartDate DATE,
    @EndDate DATE,
    @Department VARCHAR(50)
AS
BEGIN
    -- Select user data based on provided parameters.
    SELECT
        UserID,
        UserName,
        Department,
        ReportDate,
        ReportData
    FROM dbo.UserReports
    WHERE
        ReportDate BETWEEN @StartDate AND @EndDate
        AND Department = @Department
    
    RETURN     -- Return the result set.
END

The result set is returned, providing the necessary data for the report without transmitting large datasets over the network.

* Speed

Stored procedures are compiled only once during their creation and are cached on the server. This eliminates the need for repeated compilation during the execution of the procedure, thereby increasing the speed of execution. If any updates are made to the procedure, it will be recompiled to reflect the changes.

- For example, you have a stored procedure that calculates the total sales for each month. This procedure is compiled and cached on the server, ensuring fast execution every time it is called. If the calculation logic changes, such as introducing a new discount rule, you can update the stored procedure. The updated procedure will be recompiled, but subsequent executions will benefit from the cached version, maintaining high performance.

Here's an example Stored Procedure for the above scenario.

CREATE PROCEDURE CalculateMonthlySales
    @Month INT,
    @Year INT
AS
BEGIN
    -- Calculate total sales for the specified month and year.
    SELECT SUM(SaleAmount) AS TotalSales
    FROM dbo.Sales
    WHERE
        MONTH(SaleDate) = @Month
        AND YEAR(SaleDate) = @Year

    RETURN  -- Return the result set.
END

* Security

One very useful accepts of using a stored procedures is the security cover it provides to its data source.

Since there are no direct accesses to the tables, it prevents unauthorized manipulation of records inside the tables. A properly written procedure acts as a solid deterrence to SQL injections.

SQL injections are a combination of SQL statements and techniques that can break into databases and do unauthorized manipulation to the data.

* Set Based Processing

Set based processing usually refers to processing bulk data at once and it is much quicker. This is another advantage of using a stored procedure since it processes a bulk of data. Distributed applications across the network, rely heavily on these procedures as it reduces round trips.

Disadvantages of Stored Procedures

* Debugging

Debugging is never easy, so it is not advisable to write and execute complex business logic using stored procedures. Therefore, if not handle properly it can lead to a mess and can give nightmares to DBAs.

* Dependency

In a large enterprise, seasoned DBAs and database developers manage huge data pools. Application developers, on the other hand have to rely on them, as for any minor change they have refer it to a DBA, who will fix the bugs in existing procedures or create new procedures.

* Expensive

Hiring expert DBAs (Database Administrators) can be costly. Companies must be prepared to incur additional expenses to hire skilled DBAs, who are highly qualified to manage and handle complex database procedures.

For example, consider a large corporation that needs to maintain a high-volume transaction database. To ensure the database runs smoothly and efficiently, they decide to hire a seasoned DBA. While the initial cost of hiring might seem high, the expertise of the DBA in optimizing performance, ensuring data security, and handling intricate database tasks will ultimately save the company time and resources in the long run.

* Vendor Specific

Stored procedures often written in one platform may not run on another platform. Procedures written in Oracle are more sophisticated and you might have to write the entire procedure again for SQL Server.

Stored Procedure Example (Create a stored procedure)

We will create a simple procedure that does not take any parameter. Upon executing, the procedure will show a list of books.

CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.GetBookDetails
AS
    BEGIN
        SELECT *FROM dbo.Books
    END
	
-- Execute the procedure.
EXEC dbo.GetBookDetails

It is a very basic procedure.

There are two separate ways to call a stored procedure. You can type the procedure name and press the button F5 (SQL Server).

dbo.GetBookDetails – and press F5

The second and more efficient way is to type EXECUTE or EXEC followed by the procedure name.

EXECUTE dbo.GetBookDetails

OR

EXEC dbo.GetBookDetails

Parameters in a Stored Procedure

The @ sign are used as a prefix in all the parameters in a stored procedure. The procedure can have a combination of INPUT or OUPUT parameters. You must define the Input parameters in the beginning followed by the Output parameter, if any.

Output parameters are optional, that is, the procedure may or may not return any value.

CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.Division
    @val1 INT, @val2 INT
AS
    BEGIN
        BEGIN TRY
            SELECT @val1 / @val2 AS Final_Value
        END TRY
        BEGIN CATCH
            SELECT 'AN ERROR OCCURED: ' + ERROR_MESSAGE() AS Custom_Error
        END CATCH	
    END

EXECUTE dbo.Division 10, 2

The above stored procedure accepts two parameters of datatype INT. While executing the procedure, we will pass two values separated by a comma to get a desired result.

Also in the procedure, we have declared the exception handling procedures using TRY…CATCH.

Drop A Stored Procedure

At any stage if you wish to drop or remove the stored procedure from the database, then do this.

DROP PROCEDURE dbo.Procedure_Name

➡️ Before dropping a procedure, make sure it is free of any kind of relation with any other object. It might get you in trouble.

Comments in a Stored Procedure

In the first example above, I have added a comment while executing the procedure. Here's how a comment in SQL Server looks like.

-- Execute the procedure
EXEC dbo.GetBookDetails

See the sentence in green color. Its a single like comment, where a sentence is preceded by two hypens (--).

If the comment has multiple lines, you can use a Block Comment (/* ... */) like this.

/* Execute the procedure.
The procedure takes 0 parameters */

Comments in SQL are useful. You must use it (however, do not overuse it). It makes the code more readable and easy to understand.

When you share a bunch of procedures or functions with other deverlopers or DBAs, the comments will make it easy for them to understand the code, its execution and the expected result, which will help them to upgrade the code (if at all necessary), with no or mimimum bugs.

Good or bad, it has existed for a very long time and used by developers worldwide with a common motive, for enhancing performance, bulk execution and security. Write once, use it repeatedly in a distributed environment is always good. However, do keep a track of all the procedures if they are related, then you might have to make changes accordingly in multiple procedures.

-------------------

Here's a list of Top 5 popular SQL Server posts on encodedna.com.

1) How to find and remove Duplicate rows in a Table using SQL Server ROW_NUMBER() and CTE: Duplicate rows in tables can be very annoying for DBA’s and programmers, as it raises many uncomfortable questions about the authenticity of data in a database. The matter gets worse when company auditors complain about irregularities in the balance sheet etc.

2) How to convert Rows into Columns using SQL Server PIVOT OR how to use PIVOT in SQL Server: Ever wondered how you can convert data from rows to columns in SQL Server. We are talking about an SQL query, which will transform records from multiple rows into columns. Using SQL Server PIVOT, we can efficiently rotate a table’s data to show a summarized result.

3) Insert Multiple rows with a Single INSERT Statement using SQL Server Table Value Constructor: While managing an Inventory management System for an organization, I have came across a situation where I had to perform bulk upload on a table in SQL Server. Bulk upload requires inserting multiple rows of data in a table.

4) How to Convert Month Number in a Date to Month Name in SQL Server: Let us assume I have a Sales table with sales data for each month. Every day sales is stored in the table with columns such as date, quantity, price etc. I want to get the total sales for every month. Now since I have a column with “date” data type, I want to convert the month number in the date to Month Name (like February, March etc.). Find out how this is done in SQL Server.

5) SQL Server CHARINDEX Function with Examples: The primary use of an SQL Server CHARINDEX function is to find the first or starting location of an expression or characters in a given string. To make it simple, it is like searching a specified character or characters in a string.

← PreviousNext →