[From SQL Server Central]
If you’ve been around the forums on SQLServerCentral.com, you’ve probably seen me use the term “RBAR”. “RBAR” is pronounced “ree-bar” and is a “Modernism” for “Row-By-Agonizing-Row”. I use the term “RBAR” for anything that isn’t set based. Some others have picked up on it because it’s easy to remember as a form of “Death By SQL”.
Many folks think that “set-based” programming means one of two things…
- It’s all done in a single query or…
- It simply doesn’t have a Cursor or a While Loop
Both of those are very bad misconceptions as to what set based programming is.
The article continues at
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/61539/