4th Dimension (software)

4D (4th Dimension, or Silver Surfer, as it was known during early development) is a relational database management system and integrated development environment developed by Laurent Ribardière. 4D was created in 1984 and had a slightly delayed public release for Macintosh in 1987 with its own programming language. The 4D product line has since expanded to an SQL back-end, integrated compiler, integration of PHP, and several productivity plug-ins and interfaces. Some of the plug-ins created by 4D include 4D Write (a word processor), 4D View (somewhat like a spreadsheet, but with extra functionality) and 4D Internet Commands (which allowed for the addition of Internet-related functionality to a database). There are also over 100 third-party plugins, free and commercial. 4D can also be used as a web server, to run compiled database applications. Today, 4D is published by the French company 4D SAS and has a sales, distribution and support presence in most major markets, with the United States, the United Kingdom, and France being the primary markets. The product is localized in more than a dozen languages.