I have, for the last 7 years worked almost exclusively with SQL Server and Transact-SQL. I've coded so many stored procedures that I really stumble when I fool around with row-based processing in other languages. That being said, I believe that the integration of the CLR into SQL Server is not inherently a bad thing. I do agree that we will certainly see examples of perceived database performance decline as developers mistakenly use C# or VB.net for data access but that is not the fault of the database system. I am always on the side of potential benefit. Controlling the proper use of the database is a management issue, not a technical one.

My impression is that Microsoft, not having an application server product, is adding app server functionality to SQL Server. In the current issue of Queue Magazine from the ACM, Jim Grey makes this point although he does not mention SQL Server by name. I belive that we will discover benefits to having the CLR embedded in the DB Engine even though the benefits may not yet be apparent.