Do database views affect query performance?

Question

Are database views only a means to simplify the access of data or does it provide performance benefits when accessing the views as opposed to just running the query which th

Answer 1

I know this is an old thread. Discussion is good, but I do want to throw in one more thought. Performance also depends on what you are using to pull data with. For example, if you are front-ending with something like Microsoft Access you can definately gain performance for some complex queries by using a view. This is because Access does not always pull from the SQL server as we would like -- in some cases it would pull entire tables across then try to process locally from there! Not so if you use a view.