The Borland Database Engine (BDE) defines a large API for interacting with databases. Of all the data access mechanisms, the BDE supports the broadest range of functions and comes with the most supporting utilities. It is the best way to work with data in Paradox or dBASE tables. 

Database access for an application is provided by various database engines. An application can use the BDE or a third-party database engine. Borland Database Engine describes installation of the database access elements of an application.