What are stored procedures and triggers, and when should they be used?

Stored procedures are sets of SQL statements compiled and saved directly inside the database. They can accept input parameters, return results, and contain complex business logic with conditions and loops. Their use helps reduce the volume of network traffic between the application and the DBMS.

Triggers are special stored procedures that automatically execute in response to specific data modification events in a table, such as inserting, updating, or deleting rows. They are often used for auditing user actions, automatically populating service fields, or forcibly enforcing complex integrity rules.

Although these tools provide powerful capabilities for encapsulating logic at the data layer, modern development trends often recommend moving business logic into the application code itself. This is because database code is harder to test, version, and scale independently from the DBMS itself.

Nevertheless, using procedures and triggers is justified in certain scenarios: