Stored Procedures are basically functions that we can create in the database and reuse. What's neat about them from a usability standpoint is that they can take input parameters and then return a result back to the calling application.

This calling application could be anything from a Web application to a Windows application.

Stored procedure has got many advantages and benefits, some of them are:

• Speed - Stored procedures are pre-compiled, hence the execution plan doesn't have to be figured out each time they're called. This can result in a significant performance improvement.
• Code reuse and abstraction - Stored procedures often involve complex code. It's nice that this code doesn't have to be rewritten over and over again and that even entry-level SQL programmers can make use of it with a simple stored procedure call.
• Security - Permissions can be granted for stored procedures while being restricted for the underlying tables. This allows the DBA to provide a method for SQL programmers and report writers to access and/or manipulate data in a safe way.
• Reduced traffic between client and server - Since the bulk of the query is already stored on the server and only the relatively short stored procedure call has to get sent, traffic to the server is decreased tremendously.