Modularity, extensibility, reusability, Maintainability and one time compilation.
Stored procedures in PL/SQL offer several advantages:
- Modularity and Reusability:
- Stored procedures allow you to encapsulate a set of SQL statements into a single named unit, making the code modular and reusable.
- Once created, a stored procedure can be called from different parts of a program or from different programs altogether.
- Performance Optimization:
- Stored procedures can improve performance by reducing the amount of data transferred between the database and the application.
- The execution plan for a stored procedure is cached, which can result in faster query execution compared to ad-hoc SQL statements.
- Security:
- Stored procedures can enhance security by allowing you to control access to data. Users can be granted permission to execute a stored procedure without direct access to the underlying tables.
- This helps in implementing the principle of least privilege.
- Maintenance and Centralized Control:
- Changes to the database schema or business logic can be made in the stored procedure, and the application code does not need to be modified.
- Centralized control over database logic ensures consistency and ease of maintenance.
- Transaction Management:
- Stored procedures can be used to group multiple SQL statements into a single transaction, ensuring atomicity and consistency.
- This helps in maintaining data integrity in complex operations.
- Reduced Network Traffic:
- As the entire logic is executed on the database server, only the results are sent to the client, reducing network traffic and improving overall system performance.
- Code Encapsulation:
- Stored procedures allow you to encapsulate complex logic and business rules in the database, promoting a cleaner separation of concerns between the application and the database.
- Caching and Plan Stability:
- The execution plan of a stored procedure is cached, providing better plan stability and optimization over time.
- Ease of Debugging and Troubleshooting:
- Stored procedures can be debugged and optimized independently of the application code, making it easier to identify and fix issues in the database logic.
- Improved Productivity:
- Once a stored procedure is created, it can be reused by multiple applications, saving development time and effort.
In summary, stored procedures in PL/SQL contribute to better organization, security, performance, and maintenance of database-related logic.