>>>I have been spending a lot of time in stored procedures lately. More than once in a while its limitations make me chafe. It reminds me -- and this is not a warm memory -- of COBOL. I hope major improvements to both T-SQL and the SSMS IDE are somewhere in the pipeline.
>>>
>>>Which version of SQL Server were you using, and what limitations were you encountering?
>>
>>I have used SQL Server 2000, 2005, and 2008. Currently 2008. The T-SQL language has seemed like tinker toys in all of them compared to real computer languages. Likewise the lame IDE.
>>
>>You don't have to blindly defend SS just because you are an expert in it. Which I agree you are. Maybe this is an example of that establishment thing we were discussing <g>.
>
>Which is why I am glad that I use PL/SQL. Too bad MS doesn't copy it for SQL Server like they have just about everything else that they sell.

I hope not. SQL Server is actually fairly easy to work with and isn't designed to be so complicated that only Oracle DBA's are allowed to get near it.

I use both by the way. I despise PL/SQL and Oracle in general.