• Yep, I agree set-based processing is the biggest.

    After that, some talk about why modifying databases is such a pain. Why relational storage is actually good for performance, not just a pain in the bottom. Why id/value databases can't answer all questions. Why object databases are bad for reporting.

    Those are the ones that immediately come to mind.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning