I am modifying an application that has many instances of multiple
REPLACE commands to update tables, such as


replace field1 with "value1"
replace field2 with "value2"
replace field3 with "value3"


I want to speed this application up. So I considered:

UPDATE MyTable;
 SET Field1 = "Value1";
   Field2 = "Value2"
   Field3 = "Value3"


Since REPLACE starts at the first record, the 3 separate REPLACE commands
therefore make 3 passes through the table, while the SQL Update goes through
the table only once.

However, the Hackers Guide says the SQL Update is slower than REPLACE. Isnt
REPLACE 'old school' and SQL 'optimized'?

What are the Pros and Cons of each method?

Thanks