What Is dBase?

There is no doubt that computers have made people’s lives easier. Nowadays one can use software for nearly everything. One can easily type, delete, copy and paste without having to worry about the wasted paper or the effort wasted on the typing machine. One can keep track of their tasks much easier with the help of various electronic agendas that can do their job so good that they could even replace one’s assistant. But computers can do even more as they can work with databases. Here one can learn more about a particular type of software database, the dBase.

DBase is one of the first widely used database software, or how it is referred to in the specialty literature, the database management system. It was published for the first time by Ashton-Tate and it was especially designed for microcomputers. After a while the database was available on IBM PC and Apple II on the well known operating system, DOS. When it was developed for the PC platform, the dBase started skyrocketing the market of database software as it quickly became one of the best-selling software for several years and it had soon become the landmark of Ashton-Tate that propelled the name into one of the biggest software publishers in the incipient business software market. DBase became dBase II and then it had been upgraded to dBase III. Afterwards it ported to a wider variety of platforms such as UNIX.

The dBase was one of the first ever developed databases and it has served as a model for many other similar programs. Ever since the 1980s, other software designers produced their own versions or variations of the dBase and its language. Some of the most known names include FoxPro and Clipper/Harbour. Most of these programs were recognized as being stronger than the actual dBase.