37.4. User-Defined Procedures

A procedure is a database object similar to a function. The key differences are:

The explanations in the following sections about how to define user-defined functions apply to procedures as well, except for the points made above.

Collectively, functions and procedures are also known as routines. There are commands such as ALTER ROUTINE and DROP ROUTINE that can operate on functions and procedures without having to know which kind it is. Note, however, that there is no CREATE ROUTINE command.