I disagree. While one of VFP's strengths is definitely desktop client/server development, it is not only for client/server apps, but also suited towards n-tier development. There are, in fact, some third party vfp frameworks designed with this purpose in mind (i.e. visual foxexpress for one). It is up to the developer to design the system as an n-tier app (it could be the front end, the business layer, or the data layer). I do believe, however, that some other development tools are more functional in this regard (being geared specifically towards one of the layers), but n-tier design can be done and has been by many developers (with and without a 3rd party framework to speed the process up).