Visual FoxPro is a data-centric object-oriented and procedural programming language by Microsoft. It is derived from FoxPro which was developed by Fox Software beginning in 1984; Fox Software merged with Microsoft in 1992 and the software acquired further features and the prefix "Visual". The last version of FoxPro (2.6) worked under the Mac OS, DOS, Windows, and Unix: Visual FoxPro 3.0, the first "Visual" version, dropped the platform support to only Mac and Windows, and later versions were Windows-only.
FoxPro is a member of the class of languages commonly referred to as "xBase" languages, which have syntax based on the dBase programming language. Other members of the xBase language family include Clipper, dBase, and Recital . A history of the early years of xBase can be found in the dBase entry.
Visual FoxPro, also known as VFP, is mainly used to write desktop database applications running on Windows but it can also be used to write fat client, middleware, and web applications.
In late 2002, it was demonstrated that Visual FoxPro can run on Linux under the Windows emulator Wine. In 2003, this led to complaints by Microsoft: it was claimed that the deployment of FoxPro code on non-Windows machines violates the End User License Agreement.
Rumors suggesting that Microsoft intends to end support for FoxPro have been common since Microsoft's acquisition of the product, despite the product having one of the longest support timeframes for a Microsoft product (extended support until 2014). VFP 9 was released to manufacturing on December 17, 2004, and Microsoft representatives have spoken about further enhancements to be announced in 2005.
Code names
- VFP 3 - Taz
- VFP 5 - RoadRunner
- VFP 6 - Tahoe
- VFP 7 - Sedona
- VFP 8 - Toledo
- VFP 9 - Europa
- VFP 10 - To be announced
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