Hi Alejandro,
I wouldn't use a DBC. You should design the locking such that related tables are sure to be updated. I would also feel free to break some normalization rules along the way. Think about the way VFP does the PJX or VCX files. The Project file has one HomeDir field--only used by one record. That's wrong--but oh so right for the task. We like having the project in a single (or two with the PJT file) file. The VCX/SCX files have a comment record, dataenvironment record and so on. If VFP normalized these files, each ClassLib would be sourced in a variety of files--but I'm glad they don't.
My .02.

>I am writing a small gradebook app that will be distributed widely and needs to be almost bomb proof. In this case, could free tables be a better choice than tables in a DBC since I don't need long names or stored procedures? What is the downside?
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>TIA,
>
>Alex