Re: Views and functions returning sets of records

On 22/mar/08, at 17:55, Andreas Kretschmer wrote:

> Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us> schrieb:
>
>> Giorgio Valoti <giorgio_v(at)mac(dot)com> writes:
>>> maybe it’s a naive question but I was wondering if there is any
>>> difference, from a performance point of view, between a view and a
>>> function performing the same task,
>>
>> Yes. Usually the view will win.
>
> *smile*

:-(
I was thinking about using using functions as the main way to
interact with the database from an external application. The
(supposed) rationale was to simplify the application code: you only
have to worry about in and out function parameters.
Are there any way to pass some hints to the planner? For example,
could the IMMUTABLE/STABLE/VOLATILE modifiers be of some help?

Thank you
--
Giorgio Valoti