FoxPro is a legendary programming language and relational database management system (RDBMS) that was a dominant force in the 1990s. While it is now considered a "legacy" technology, it remains famous for its incredible speed and data-handling efficiency.
Here are the full details on FoxPro's history, features, and current status as of 2026.
FoxPro is a data-centric procedural programming language. It belongs to the xBase family of languages (derived from dBASE). It wasn't just a language; it was a complete development environment where the database engine and the programming language were tightly integrated.
Original Developer: Fox Software (1984).
Acquisition: Microsoft bought Fox Software in 1992 for $173 million.
Successor: Visual FoxPro (VFP), which added Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and a visual interface.
FoxPro was known for several "killer features" that made it faster than almost any competitor at the time:
Rushmore Optimization: A proprietary technology that used indexes to make data retrieval blazingly fast, even with millions of records.
Integrated Data Engine: Unlike modern languages (like Java or Python) that need to connect to an external SQL database, FoxPro was the database.
RAD (Rapid Application Development): It allowed developers to build complex database forms and reports in a fraction of the time it took in other languages.
Small Footprint: It required very little memory and could run on modest hardware.
Feature Original FoxPro (2.6 and earlier) Visual FoxPro (3.0 to 9.0)
Paradigm Purely Procedural Procedural + Object-Oriented
Interface Character-based (DOS) / Early Windows Modern Visual GUI
Platform DOS, Windows, Mac, Unix Windows only (later versions)
Database Free Tables (.DBF) Database Containers (.DBC)
FoxPro is known for its readable, English-like commands. Here is a simple example of how it handles data:
Code snippet
* Open a customer table
USE Customers
* Find all customers in 'Texas' and update their status
REPLACE ALL Status WITH "Active" FOR State = "TX"
* Display the results in a grid
BROWSE
Microsoft officially discontinued Visual FoxPro in 2007.
Final Version: Visual FoxPro 9.0 SP2.
End of Support: Microsoft ended all extended support in 2015.
Current State in 2026: While no longer updated, many "mission-critical" systems in government and older businesses still run on FoxPro because it is incredibly stable. However, developers are increasingly migrating these systems to .NET (C#) or Python due to security concerns and the lack of 64-bit support.
Even in 2026, you will find "Foxheads" (devoted developers) using it because:
Speed: For local data processing, its engine is still faster than many modern SQL setups.
Legacy Systems: Rewriting a massive 30-year-old application is expensive and risky.
Portability: You can often run a FoxPro app just by copying a few files; no complex server installation is required.
*--- Clear the environment ---
CLEAR
SET TALK OFF
SET SAFETY OFF
*--- Define variables ---
LOCAL lnNum1, lnNum2, lnResult
lnNum1 = 0
lnNum2 = 0
lnResult = 0
*--- Accept User Inputs ---
@ 5, 10 SAY "Enter First Number: " GET lnNum1
@ 7, 10 SAY "Enter Second Number: " GET lnNum2
READ
*--- Perform Calculation ---
lnResult = lnNum1 * lnNum2
*--- Output to Screen ---
@ 10, 10 SAY "The Result is: " + ALLTRIM(STR(lnResult))
*--- Output to Printer ---
WAIT WINDOW "Sending result to printer..." TIMEOUT 2
SET DEVICE TO PRINTER
@ 1, 1 SAY "FoxPro Multiplication Report"
@ 3, 1 SAY "First Number: " + STR(lnNum1)
@ 4, 1 SAY "Second Number: " + STR(lnNum2)
@ 5, 1 SAY "---------------------------"
@ 6, 1 SAY "Total Result: " + STR(lnResult)
EJECT
SET DEVICE TO SCREEN
*--- Final Message ---
WAIT WINDOW "Process Complete. Press any key to exit."
RETURN