Simon, it is interesting that (I must admit) I did not even know about sp_executesql until a few days after I finished writing this article. I was in a class about SQL Server Performance Tuning and it was mentioned. It can also be used to help direct SQL Server to use the right 'version' of a plan in some cases. In fact, I think a good article might be one on all of the different ways to use sp_executesql for performance advantages. I would think that most developers out there don't know about this.

On the second note -

I wasn't aware that the .refresh was quite as costly as you have pointed out. Wow!

Thank you for your comments!

Mindy