You choose a data storage container according to the amount and type of data, and how you want to use it. You determine the availability of data by the way you declare it and where you create it in the program. This range of availability or effectiveness is called scope.
Most programming languages allow you to store data in constants, variables, and arrays. In Visual FoxPro, you can also store data in records and objects. For more information about differences, see Visual FoxPro and Other Programming Languages.