>Does anyone know if there is a performance hit when using an external function rather than a method?
>
>Michael G. Emmons

What do you mean external?

programs in memory: (RAM hit)
API functions are usually fastest.
Functions from (SET PROCEDURE TO) are next
Methods are next
programs not loaded: (does not really apply if all code is included in exe)
Programs in path but not in memory are next.
Functions within programs not in memory are last.

I think that's accurate