Question

which of the following is a difference between a procedure and a function? an explicit cursor can be declared in a procedure, but not in a function. a function cannot be used within a sql statement; a procedure can be used within sql. a procedure can have default values for parameters, while a function cannot. a function must return a value; a procedure may or may not.

Answer 1

The correct difference between a procedure and a function is that a function must return a value, whereas a procedure may or may not return a value. Functions can be used within SQL statements, and both can declare explicit cursors and have parameters with default values.

Step-by-step explanation:

The key difference between a procedure and a function in the context of programming, particularly in database programming languages like PL/SQL (used in Oracle databases) or T-SQL (used in Microsoft SQL Server), lies in their return values and the context in which they can be used.

A function must always return a value and can be invoked from within a SQL statement; it is designed to return data that can be used directly in expressions. Functions can be embedded in SQL queries, where they return results that can be used like any other column value. On the other hand, a procedure may or may not return a value and cannot be directly used within a SQL statement. Procedures are generally used for executing a sequence of statements and can return multiple results through OUT parameters or result sets.

Contrary to one of the statements in the question, both procedures and functions can have parameters with default values, and both can declare explicit cursors within their body. Therefore, the correct difference is that a function must return a value while a procedure may or may not return a value.