Performance: is better a node_load or a direct SQL query ?

Hi all. I have a content type with 15+ fields. In some situations I need
to retrieve only 3 fields.

So, is better (perfomance, security, portability, etc etc) a call to
node_load() function or a direct SQL query on the right table ?

M.

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Michel 'ZioBudda' Morelli                       michel@...
Consulenza sistemistica in ambito OpenSource.
Sviluppo applicazioni web dinamiche (LAMP+Ajax)
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