This section is intended as a brief introduction to DP4 programming using programming languages such as C,C++,Visual Basic or Delphi.
Apart from DP4's own specialised programming tools (QAB, Report Writer, and Importer), or similar third party tools (such as Crystal Reports) there are three basic approaches to writing programs for DP4 systems, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages, discused on the following pages:
Of course it is also possible to mix and match approaches in different parts of a program. For example you may choose to write most of a large program using the "pure" DP4 API with a view to future portability, but to include some Operating System specific code for things that cannot be easily programmed otherwise.
Next some key features of the DP4 API are introduced.