dBase
Hacker ApprovedRanked 12 of 22 databases by recommenders
Recommended as a historic, approachable database tool for building business apps quickly. Critics say index corruption, repair needs and multi-user strain were common problems.
Recommended as a historic, approachable database tool for building business apps quickly. Critics say index corruption, repair needs and multi-user strain were common problems.
28 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 21
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 21 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong productivity for building business apps
“it is quite remarkable the productivity that xBase offered”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “DBASE on the Kaypro II” “You could really get stuff done in those environments.”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: WebBase-III – dBASE III rebuilt in the browser with its own interpreter” “Great productivity tool, garbage collected, compiled”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “DBase: 1979-2026” - Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: WebBase-III – dBASE III rebuilt in the browser with its own interpreter”
Fond memories of Clipper-era apps
“I have nothing but rose-colored affinity for the dBase III, FoxPro and CA Clipper apps that I used to work on.”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: WebBase-III – dBASE III rebuilt in the browser with its own interpreter” “Everytime someone mentions Clipper (or dBase or FoxPro, or even FoxBase, but Clipper the most)”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Lotus 1-2-3 on the PC with DOS” “I had a very similar path starting with dBASE III Plus.”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “DBASE on the Kaypro II” - Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “Show HN: Capsule – Single-file web apps that save their data into SQLite”
Gold standard tool of its era
“Early tools like Lotus 1-2-3 and dbase were mind-blowing because they were so generalized and available on consumer appliances.”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Ask HN: What was it like for programmers when spreadsheets became ubiquitous?” “dBase was the gold standard for this back in the 80s, early 90s. Great tool.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: Micasa – track your house from the terminal” “it was far superior to MS foxpro or Access”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Delphi is 31 years old – innovation timeline” Easy enough for non-programmers and kids
“The beauty of xBase was that even a highschooler could whip out a decent business application if the requirements were modest.”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Has the cost of building software dropped 90%?” “FoxPro/dBase (that has some of the same ideas) are more approachable”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “The Weird OS Built Around a Database [video]” “they were surprisingly accessible to even kids”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “Microsoft killed FoxPro in 2007. Anyway, here's FoxPro revived”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Index corruption and repair needed
“The typical troubleshooting path with the b-tree system almost inevitably, and very quickly, led to a "rebuild the indexes" process which no one enjoyed.”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “DBase: 1979-2026” “the database constantly needing repair was an issue”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “DBase: 1979-2026” Struggled with multi-user access
“systems such as dBase, FoxPro, and Paradox were starting to show the strain of implementing multi-user access”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “DBase: 1979-2026” “As a way of working those dbms systems were a dead end.”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “DBase: 1979-2026”
Other databases people recommend
The four most recommended other databases, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PostgreSQL | 816 | 233 | 78% | 13 | 10 yrs42 owners | Approved |
| MySQL | 124 | 107 | 54% | 12 | — | — |
| Microsoft SQL Server | 73 | 59 | 55% | 12 | 20 yrs6 owners | — |
| Microsoft Access | 62 | 39 | 61% | 12 | — | — |
| dBaseThis page | 21 | 7 | 75% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
26 of the 31 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The permissions exploits on SQLite and dBASE are identical, sad to say.”
“I rather liked them, but this was long before I had ever seen SQL or anything like that.”
“they were surprisingly accessible to even kids”
“This reminds me of Clipper/dBase software tools”
“When those servers are unavailable, paying customers—not pirates—are locked out.”
“I was thrilled to have access to something that could build a distributable, standalone exe.”
“You could really get stuff done in those environments.”
“I have nothing but rose-colored affinity for the dBase III, FoxPro and CA Clipper apps that I used to work on.”
“fun to see how much could be done with it”
“should use their own software”
“but quickly moved to foxbase”
“systems such as dBase, FoxPro, and Paradox were starting to show the strain of implementing multi-user access”
“The typical troubleshooting path with the b-tree system almost inevitably, and very quickly, led to a "rebuild the indexes" process which no one enjoyed.”
“the database constantly needing repair was an issue”
“However, you couldn't load it with any of the ODBC drivers it would fail.”
“We'd all be using better programming languages now.”
“As a way of working those dbms systems were a dead end.”
“Great productivity tool, garbage collected, compiled”
“Early tools like Lotus 1-2-3 and dbase were mind-blowing because they were so generalized and available on consumer appliances.”
“Everytime someone mentions Clipper (or dBase or FoxPro, or even FoxBase, but Clipper the most)”
“FoxPro/dBase (that has some of the same ideas) are more approachable”
“dBase was the gold standard for this back in the 80s, early 90s. Great tool.”
“it was far superior to MS foxpro or Access”
“I had a very similar path starting with dBASE III Plus.”
“it is quite remarkable the productivity that xBase offered”
“The beauty of xBase was that even a highschooler could whip out a decent business application if the requirements were modest.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.