The author seems to think that begin and end statements seem to do something in stored procedures where they do not.

You can put a begin and end statement around whatever you like, but it wont stop the batch from continuing on to what comes next.

You also don't even need a GO statement in order to create a stored procedure. The authors seems to have totally missed the purpose of the GO statement.

Did you know, that SQL Server doesn't even understand a GO statement. It is not transact SQL!

Hope this helps.

Do you really understand what happens when you create a stored procedure?

Interesting question!  I agree with the above poster.  The BEGIN and END statements are nothing to do with stored procedures but are simply used to logically group statements in IF's/ELSE's, WHILE's and CASES's.

With you there.  There's more to GO than meets the eye, and it doesn't even have to be "GO" either!

Thort it might be fun to share this early tale of GO horror (I was a lot younger then):

SQL 7, asked to implement a script from a (VB) developer to add a column to a table on a remote, client mission-critical, really, really, really important customer address db. 

So, did I double-check the code?  No. 

Did I test it on a local db?  No. 

Can you see a disaster coming?  Oh, yes...

Run the script.  See the script run.  See the error.

Turns out VB Fly Boy had scripted the change from Enterprise Mangler and it went something like this:

SELECT * INTO newtable FROM oldtable

GO

DROP TABLE oldtable

GO

CREATE TABLE oldtable (with shiny new column)

GO

INSERT oldtable SELECT * FROM newtable

GO

Okey-dokey, except the first SELECT INTO failed.  But, thanks to the joys of "GO" the script ploughed on, dropped the table etc.  So, ended up with the new table with its new column and no data!

Oops.  Well, that'd be ok 'cos the local dba on the ground will have a back up.  Well, yes, from 3 months ago.

Lots and lots of lessons learned there.  I now spend my days doing macrame.

I think I already said that GO wasn't a real sql statement in my earlier message.

Are we surprised that we haven't heard from the author?

No, you're not missing anything. You don't have to use the GO word when creating stored procs.