A stored procedure is a
A computer program stored in a database that is used to enforce business rules
B program stored in a database that keeps the database consistent when certain conditions arise
C history of actions executed by a database management system
D data structure that improves the speed of data-retrieval operations in a database
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is: B) A program stored in a database that keeps the database consistent when certain conditions arise.
A stored procedure is a precompiled collection of one or more SQL statements that are stored in a database. It is written in SQL or a procedural language (such as PL/SQL for Oracle or T-SQL for SQL Server) and can be executed when needed. Stored procedures help to encapsulate business logic, reduce redundancy, and improve efficiency.
One of the key roles of stored procedures is to maintain consistency within the database. When specific conditions or triggers arise, a stored procedure can be invoked to ensure that the data adheres to predefined rules. For example, stored procedures can be used to automatically validate data before insertion, update, or deletion, thus helping prevent data integrity issues.
Stored procedures offer several advantages. First, they can reduce network traffic because instead of sending multiple SQL queries from an application to the database, the application can simply call the stored procedure to execute all necessary operations. This improves performance, especially for complex operations.
Second, they enhance security because stored procedures limit direct access to the database. Users and applications interact with the stored procedure, not the underlying tables, reducing the risk of SQL injection attacks.
Additionally, stored procedures allow for centralized control of business logic. If a business rule changes, the corresponding stored procedure can be modified once, and the change will automatically apply to all applications using that procedure, ensuring consistency and reducing maintenance overhead.
While stored procedures are useful in enforcing business rules and maintaining consistency, they are not directly related to creating data structures for improving retrieval speed (as mentioned in option D), nor are they simply logs of past actions (option C).