Re: Procedures

On Thu, Aug 6, 2020 at 02:30:55PM +0100, Robin Abbi wrote:
> PostgreSQL went as far as release 10 without procedures.
> Some third party resources written before 11 loosely conflate procedures with
> functions.
> Some third party resources written before 11 accurately state PostgreSQL has
> functions but not procedures.
> Referring to the PostgreSQL docs for 11 on, procedures have been added.
>
> For someone like me, coming to the subject without much of a hinterland other
> than googling around, it seemed clear that there was a motivating case that
> caused Procedures to be added to PostgreSQL, but I was not sufficiently
> familiar with the domain to be able to readily intuit what it might have been.
>
> For example, Procedures say they have no return value, yet Functions can return
> void. Not the same I agree, but I wouldn't be aware in which circumstances it
> mattered.
>
> For me, perhaps the most useful thing would have been a small example
> highlighting the essential thing(s) that procedures can do that functions could
> not.

Agreed, this doc area needs help.

--
Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> https://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB https://enterprisedb.com

The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, Bruce Lee