What is a free DBMS similar to Visual FoxPro?

Question

Since VFP is not being supported by Microsoft after 2015, what is a similar software that has the performance and flexibility of VFP? I have been thinking of SQL and .NET but currently that is not an option due to financial constraint.

I have R and potential access to SAS but are they capable of functioning in the way that VFP can for large scale data sets (my average data set contains roughly 1 terabyte)?

Also - why would VFP crash when introduced to a data set of that size? Do I need more memory or processing power (I currently have a Nvidia Quadro processor with CUDA so I don't think this is the issue)? Would an external hard drive solve my problem at all?

Thanks, please include any info that seems even distantly relevant and links are good too.

Answer 1

There is nothing similar. Nothing will give you the speed and flexibility of a desktop database like VFP, and the ability to write code directly manipulating the tables in the engine. Everything else limits you to sql and stored precedures. The closest you will get is use Access, and that is pretty crude in comparison. SQL and .NET is a viable option, but it is overkill for small projects, and expensive for big projects. It would not be my first choice.



I'm currently working with MySQL and PHP. I can't develop apps as fast as I did with FoxPro, but it gets the job done, and Microsoft doesn't control them.



And lastly, FoxPro won't handle data sets or files larger than 2GB. Period. This is an internal limitation that Microsoft chose not to fix.

Answer 2

If all you want is a database, then you have several choices. MySQL is a non-Microsoft standard, but now that Oracle has MySQL people are moving to postgreSQL. Both are excellent alternatives to the bloated and over priced commercial databases avaliable, and both are free.



VFP also has a very rich programming environment, and there is nothing out there that can compare. Yes, c++ is much faster, especially when it comes to math, but nothing out there lets you manipulate data and tables like VFP does. If you need to crunch data fast, nothing can do it like VFP does. Unfortunately, Microsoft considers this to be too difficult for the average programmer, and they place little value on this ability.



If you want to get away from Microsoft, there is always java, but java is a gutless pig when it comes to execution speed. I prefer c++ for when I need speed, and PHP for when I want to do web work. Both are free and capable. PHP has native connectors to many different databases.

Answer 3

Visual Foxpro Alternative

Answer 4

There's the free Express version of SQL Server...while nowhere near as featured as the for-sale version, it'll probably get the job done.