Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 DBA Survival Guide, Second Edition

What Is a Stored Procedure?

A stored procedure is a series of precompiled SQL statements and control-of-flow language statements. Stored procedures can enhance standard SQL by enabling you to use parameters, make decisions, declare variables, and return information. You can think of a stored procedure as a program or function that is stored as a database object on SQL Server. When a stored procedure is executed, the stored procedure runs on SQL Server—not on the client issuing the request. A stored procedure can be a simple SQL statement such as this one:

Select * from authors 

A stored procedure can also be a series of complex SQL statements and control-of-flow language statements that apply a complex business rule or task to a series of tables ...