Editing Late binding (section)

===Early vs. late binding in PL/SQL and Ada===
When using early binding between Ada and a database-stored procedure, a timestamp is checked to verify that the [[stored procedure]] has not changed since the code was compiled. This allows for faster executions and prevents the application from running against the wrong version of a stored procedure.<ref>{{cite web|title=Early and Late Binding, Oracle SQL *Module for Ada Programmer's Guide|url=http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/appdev.102/a58231/ch3.htm#i1007434|publisher=Download.oracle.com|accessdate=2011-01-15}}</ref>

When using late binding the timestamp check is not performed, and the stored procedure is executed via an anonymous PL/SQL block. While this can be slower, it removes the need to recompile all of the client applications when a stored procedure changes.

This distinction appears to be unique to PL/SQL and Ada. Other languages that can call PL/SQL procedures, as well as other database engines, only use late binding.