<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
(	O
"	O
Massachusetts	O
General	O
Hospital	O
Utility	O
Multi-Programming	B-Operating_System
System	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
or	O
M	B-Language
,	O
is	O
an	O
imperative	B-Application
,	O
high-level	O
programming	O
language	O
with	O
an	O
integrated	O
transaction	O
processing	O
key	B-Data_Structure
–	I-Data_Structure
value	I-Data_Structure
database	I-Data_Structure
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
technology	O
has	O
since	O
expanded	O
as	O
the	O
predominant	O
database	O
for	O
health	O
information	O
systems	O
and	O
electronic	B-Application
health	I-Application
records	I-Application
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS-based	O
information	O
systems	O
run	O
over	O
40%	O
of	O
the	O
hospitals	O
in	O
the	O
U.S.	O
,	O
run	O
across	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
U.S.	O
federal	O
hospitals	O
and	O
clinics	O
,	O
and	O
provide	O
health	O
information	O
services	O
for	O
over	O
54%	O
of	O
patients	O
across	O
the	O
U.S.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
unique	O
feature	O
of	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
technology	O
is	O
its	O
integrated	O
database	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
allowing	O
direct	O
,	O
high-speed	O
read-write	O
access	O
to	O
permanent	O
disk	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
provides	O
tight	O
integration	O
of	O
unlimited	O
applications	O
within	O
a	O
single	O
database	O
,	O
and	O
provides	O
extremely	O
high	O
performance	O
and	O
reliability	O
as	O
an	O
online	B-General_Concept
transaction	I-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Neil	O
Pappalardo	O
,	O
Robert	O
Greenes	O
,	O
and	O
Curt	O
Marble	O
in	O
Dr.	O
Octo	O
Barnett	O
's	O
lab	O
at	O
the	O
Massachusetts	O
General	O
Hospital	O
(	O
MGH	O
)	O
in	O
Boston	O
during	O
1966	O
and	O
1967	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
came	O
out	O
of	O
an	O
internal	O
"	O
skunkworks	O
"	O
project	O
at	O
MGH	O
by	O
Pappalardo	O
,	O
Greenes	O
,	O
and	O
Marble	O
to	O
create	O
an	O
alternative	O
development	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
initial	O
demonstration	O
of	O
capabilities	O
,	O
Dr.	O
Barnett	O
's	O
proposal	O
to	O
NIH	O
in	O
1967	O
for	O
renewal	O
of	O
the	O
hospital	O
computer	O
project	O
grant	O
took	O
the	O
bold	O
step	O
of	O
proposing	O
that	O
the	O
system	O
be	O
built	O
in	O
MUMPS	B-Language
going	O
forward	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
relying	O
on	O
the	O
BBN	O
approach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
was	O
funded	O
,	O
and	O
serious	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
in	O
MUMPS	B-Language
began	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
MUMPS	B-Language
system	O
was	O
,	O
like	O
Unix	B-Application
a	O
few	O
years	O
later	O
,	O
built	O
on	O
a	O
DEC	O
PDP-7	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Octo	O
Barnett	O
and	O
Neil	O
Pappalardo	O
obtained	O
a	O
backward	B-General_Concept
compatible	I-General_Concept
PDP-9	B-Device
,	O
and	O
began	O
using	O
MUMPS	B-Language
in	O
the	O
admissions	O
cycle	O
and	O
laboratory	O
test	O
reporting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
was	O
then	O
an	O
interpreted	B-Application
language	I-Application
,	O
yet	O
even	O
then	O
,	O
incorporated	O
a	O
hierarchical	B-General_Concept
database	I-General_Concept
file	O
system	O
to	O
standardize	O
interaction	O
with	O
the	O
data	O
and	O
abstract	O
disk	O
operations	O
so	O
they	O
were	O
only	O
done	O
by	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
language	I-Language
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
was	O
also	O
used	O
in	O
its	O
earliest	O
days	O
in	O
an	O
experimental	O
clinical	O
progress	O
note	O
entry	O
system	O
and	O
a	O
radiology	O
report	O
entry	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
aspects	O
of	O
MUMPS	B-Language
can	O
be	O
traced	O
from	O
RAND	O
Corporation	O
's	O
JOSS	B-Language
through	O
BBN	O
's	O
TELCOMP	B-Language
and	O
STRINGCOMP	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MUMPS	B-Language
team	O
chose	O
to	O
include	O
portability	O
between	O
machines	O
as	O
a	O
design	O
goal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
advanced	O
feature	O
of	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
language	I-Language
not	O
widely	O
supported	O
in	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
or	O
in	O
computer	B-Architecture
hardware	I-Architecture
of	O
the	O
era	O
was	O
multitasking	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
time-sharing	B-General_Concept
on	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
computers	I-Architecture
was	O
increasingly	O
common	O
in	O
systems	O
such	O
as	O
Multics	B-Application
,	O
most	O
mini-computers	O
did	O
not	O
run	O
parallel	O
programs	O
and	O
threading	O
was	O
not	O
available	O
at	O
all	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
on	O
mainframes	B-Architecture
,	O
the	O
variant	O
of	O
batch	O
processing	O
where	O
a	O
program	O
was	O
run	O
to	O
completion	O
was	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
implementation	O
for	O
an	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
of	O
multi-programming	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
a	O
few	O
years	O
until	O
Unix	B-Application
was	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
lack	O
of	O
memory	O
management	O
hardware	B-Architecture
also	O
meant	O
that	O
all	O
multi-processing	O
was	O
fraught	O
with	O
the	O
possibility	O
that	O
a	O
memory	O
pointer	O
could	O
change	O
some	O
other	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
programs	O
do	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
standard	O
way	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
memory	O
directly	O
at	O
all	O
,	O
in	O
contrast	O
to	O
C	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
so	O
since	O
the	O
multitasking	B-Operating_System
was	O
enforced	O
by	O
the	O
language	O
,	O
not	O
by	O
any	O
program	O
written	O
in	O
the	O
language	O
it	O
was	O
impossible	O
to	O
have	O
the	O
risk	O
that	O
existed	O
for	O
other	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dan	O
Brevik	O
's	O
DEC	O
MUMPS-15	O
system	O
was	O
adapted	O
to	O
a	O
DEC	O
PDP-15	B-Device
,	O
where	O
it	O
lived	O
for	O
some	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
portability	O
proved	O
to	O
be	O
useful	O
and	O
MUMPS	B-Language
was	O
awarded	O
a	O
government	O
research	O
grant	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
MUMPS	B-Language
was	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
domain	O
which	O
was	O
a	O
requirement	O
for	O
grants	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
was	O
soon	O
ported	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
other	O
systems	O
including	O
the	O
popular	O
DEC	B-Device
PDP-8	I-Device
,	O
the	O
Data	B-Device
General	I-Device
Nova	I-Device
and	O
on	O
DEC	B-Device
PDP-11	I-Device
and	O
the	O
Artronix	O
PC12	B-Device
minicomputer	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Word	O
about	O
MUMPS	B-Language
spread	O
mostly	O
through	O
the	O
medical	O
community	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
in	O
widespread	O
use	O
,	O
often	O
being	O
locally	O
modified	O
for	O
their	O
own	O
needs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versions	O
of	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
system	O
were	O
rewritten	O
by	O
technical	O
leaders	O
Dennis	O
"	O
Dan	O
"	O
Brevik	O
and	O
Paul	O
Stylos	O
of	O
DEC	O
in	O
1970	O
and	O
1971	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
early	O
1970s	O
,	O
there	O
were	O
many	O
and	O
varied	O
implementations	O
of	O
MUMPS	B-Language
on	O
a	O
range	O
of	O
hardware	B-Architecture
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
noteworthy	O
platform	O
was	O
Paul	O
Stylos	O
 '	O
DEC	O
MUMPS-11	O
on	O
the	O
PDP-11	B-Device
,	O
and	O
MEDITECH	O
's	O
MIIS	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
Fall	O
of	O
1972	O
,	O
many	O
MUMPS	B-Language
users	O
attended	O
a	O
conference	O
in	O
Boston	O
which	O
standardized	O
the	O
then-fractured	O
language	O
,	O
and	O
created	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
Users	O
Group	O
and	O
MUMPS	B-Language
Development	O
Committee	O
(	O
MDC	O
)	O
to	O
do	O
so	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
about	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
DEC	O
launched	O
DSM-11	O
(	O
Digital	B-Language
Standard	I-Language
MUMPS	I-Language
)	O
for	O
the	O
PDP-11	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
InterSystems	B-Application
sold	O
ISM-11	O
for	O
the	O
PDP-11	B-Device
(	O
which	O
was	O
identical	O
to	O
DSM-11	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
several	O
vendors	O
brought	O
MUMPS-based	O
platforms	O
that	O
met	O
the	O
ANSI	O
standard	O
to	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
with	O
DSM	O
(	O
Digital	B-Language
Standard	I-Language
MUMPS	I-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
the	O
PDP-11	B-Device
series	O
DSM-11	O
was	O
released	O
1977	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
hardware	B-Architecture
families	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
MUMPS	B-Language
versions	O
were	O
available	O
until	O
1995	O
from	O
DEC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DSM-11	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Alpha	B-Device
in	O
two	O
variants	O
:	O
DSM	O
for	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
as	O
DSM	O
for	O
Ultrix	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InterSystems	B-Application
with	O
ISM	O
(	O
InterSystems	B-Application
M	B-Language
)	O
on	O
VMS	B-Operating_System
(	O
M/VX	O
)	O
,	O
ISM-11	O
later	O
M/11	O
+	O
on	O
the	O
PDP-11	B-Device
platform	O
(	O
1978	O
)	O
,	O
M/PC	O
on	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
M/DG	O
on	O
Data	O
General	O
,	O
M/VM	O
on	O
IBM	O
VM/CMS	B-Application
,	O
and	O
M/UX	O
on	O
various	O
Unixes	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSM-PC	O
,	O
MSM/386	O
,	O
MS-UNIX	O
,	O
MSM-NT	O
,	O
MSM/VM	O
fo	B-General_Concept
IBM	I-General_Concept
,	O
VAX/VMS	B-Operating_System
platforms	O
and	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
Alpha	B-Device
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
worked	O
on	O
the	O
MGM	O
MUMPS	B-Language
implementation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MGlobal	O
MUMPS	B-Language
was	O
the	O
first	O
commercial	O
MUMPS	B-Language
for	O
the	O
IBM	O
PC	O
and	O
the	O
only	O
implementation	O
for	O
the	O
classic	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
OS	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
briefly	O
sold	O
a	O
MUMPS	B-Language
implementation	O
named	O
MUMPS/VM	O
which	O
ran	O
as	O
a	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
on	O
top	O
of	O
VM/370	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
second	O
revision	O
of	O
the	O
ANSI	O
standard	O
for	O
MUMPS	B-Language
(	O
X11.1-1984	O
)	O
was	O
approved	O
on	O
November	O
15	O
,	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Use	O
of	O
M	B-Language
as	O
an	O
alternative	O
name	O
for	O
the	O
language	O
was	O
approved	O
around	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
the	O
last	O
M	B-Language
Standard	O
(	O
ISO-IEC	O
11756-1999	O
)	O
was	O
approved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1998	O
,	O
the	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
vendor	O
InterSystems	B-Application
had	O
become	O
the	O
dominant	O
player	O
in	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
market	O
with	O
the	O
purchase	O
of	O
several	O
other	O
vendors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
30	O
,	O
1994	O
,	O
InterSystems	B-Application
acquired	O
the	O
DSM	O
product	O
line	O
from	O
DEC	O
.	O
InterSystems	B-Application
consolidated	O
these	O
products	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
product	O
line	O
,	O
branding	O
them	O
,	O
on	O
several	O
hardware	B-Architecture
platforms	O
,	O
as	O
OpenM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
,	O
InterSystems	B-Application
launched	O
a	O
new	O
product	O
named	O
Caché	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micronetics	O
Design	O
Corporation	O
,	O
at	O
this	O
time	O
#2	O
on	O
the	O
market	O
,	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
InterSystems	B-Application
on	O
June	O
21	O
,	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InterSystems	B-Application
remains	O
the	O
dominant	O
"	O
M	B-Language
vendor	O
"	O
owning	O
MSM	O
,	O
DSM	O
,	O
ISM	O
,	O
DTM	O
and	O
selling	O
Caché	B-Language
to	O
M	B-Language
developers	O
who	O
write	O
applications	O
for	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
Intersystems	B-Application
did	O
not	O
use	O
the	O
term	O
M	B-Language
anymore	O
,	O
neither	O
followed	O
the	O
M	B-Language
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Greystone	O
Technology	O
Corporation	O
's	O
GT.M	B-Application
implementation	O
was	O
sold	O
to	O
Sanchez	O
Computer	O
Associates	O
(	O
now	O
part	O
of	O
FIS	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
mid-1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
7	O
,	O
2000	O
,	O
Sanchez	O
made	O
GT.M	B-Application
for	O
Linux	B-Application
available	O
under	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
license	I-License
and	O
on	O
October	O
28	O
,	O
2005	O
,	O
GT.M	B-Application
for	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
and	O
Tru64	B-Operating_System
UNIX	I-Operating_System
were	O
also	O
made	O
available	O
under	O
the	O
AGPL	O
license	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GT.M	B-Application
continues	O
to	O
be	O
available	O
on	O
other	O
UNIX	B-Application
platforms	O
under	O
a	O
traditional	O
license	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
2000	O
,	O
Ray	O
Newman	O
and	O
others	O
released	O
MUMPS	B-Language
V1	O
,	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
MUMPS	B-Language
(	O
initially	O
on	O
FreeBSD	O
)	O
similar	O
to	O
DSM-11	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
V1	O
has	O
since	O
been	O
ported	O
to	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
(	O
using	O
cygwin	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
only	O
for	O
the	O
x86	O
CPU	O
,	O
MUMPS	B-Language
V1	O
has	O
now	O
been	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Raspberry	O
Pi	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
also	O
several	O
open	O
source	O
implementations	O
of	O
MUMPS	B-Language
,	O
including	O
some	O
research	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dr.	O
O'Kane	O
has	O
also	O
ported	O
the	O
interpreter	B-Application
to	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
creators	O
of	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
Neil	O
Pappalardo	O
,	O
founded	O
a	O
company	O
called	O
MEDITECH	O
in	O
1969	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
extended	O
and	O
built	O
on	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
naming	O
the	O
new	O
language	O
MIIS	B-Language
(	O
and	O
later	O
,	O
another	O
language	O
named	O
MAGIC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
InterSystems	B-Application
,	O
MEDITECH	O
no	O
longer	O
sells	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
,	O
so	O
MIIS	B-Language
and	O
MAGIC	O
are	O
now	O
only	O
used	O
internally	O
at	O
MEDITECH	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
chief	O
executive	O
of	O
InterSystems	B-Application
disliked	O
the	O
name	O
MUMPS	B-Language
and	O
felt	O
that	O
it	O
represented	O
a	O
serious	O
marketing	O
obstacle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
favoring	O
M	B-Language
to	O
some	O
extent	O
became	O
identified	O
as	O
alignment	O
with	O
InterSystems	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
1990	O
ANSI	O
Standard	O
was	O
open	O
to	O
both	O
M	B-Language
and	O
MUMPS	B-Language
and	O
after	O
a	O
"	O
world-wide	O
"	O
discussion	O
in	O
1992	O
the	O
Mumps	B-Language
User	O
Groups	O
officially	O
changed	O
the	O
name	O
to	O
M	B-Language
.	O
The	O
dispute	O
also	O
reflected	O
rivalry	O
between	O
organizations	O
(	O
the	O
M	B-Language
Technology	I-Language
Association	O
,	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
Development	O
Committee	O
,	O
the	O
ANSI	O
and	O
ISO	O
Standards	O
Committees	O
)	O
as	O
to	O
who	O
determines	O
the	O
"	O
official	O
"	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
leading	O
authority	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
author	O
of	O
an	O
open	O
source	O
MUMPS	B-Language
implementation	O
,	O
Professor	O
Kevin	O
O'Kane	O
,	O
uses	O
only	O
'	O
MUMPS	B-Language
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
recent	O
standard	O
(	O
ISO/IEC	O
11756:1999	O
,	O
re-affirmed	O
on	O
25	O
June	O
2010	O
)	O
,	O
still	O
mentions	O
both	O
M	B-Language
and	O
MUMPS	B-Language
as	O
officially	O
accepted	O
names	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Massachusetts	O
General	O
Hospital	O
registered	O
"	O
MUMPS	B-Language
"	O
as	O
a	O
trademark	O
with	O
the	O
USPTO	O
on	O
November	O
28	O
,	O
1971	O
,	O
and	O
renewed	O
it	O
on	O
November	O
16	O
,	O
1992	O
,	O
but	O
let	O
it	O
expire	O
on	O
August	O
30	O
,	O
2003	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
is	O
a	O
language	O
intended	O
for	O
and	O
designed	O
to	O
build	O
database	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
implementations	O
were	O
interpreted	B-Application
,	O
though	O
modern	O
implementations	O
may	O
be	O
fully	O
or	O
partially	O
compiled	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
MUMPS	B-Language
memory	O
partitions	O
were	O
limited	O
to	O
2048	O
bytes	O
so	O
aggressive	O
abbreviation	O
greatly	O
aided	O
multi-programming	B-Operating_System
on	O
severely	O
resource	O
limited	O
hardware	B-Architecture
,	O
because	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
MUMPS	B-Language
job	O
could	O
fit	O
into	O
the	O
very	O
small	O
memories	O
extant	O
in	O
hardware	B-Architecture
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
word	O
"	O
Multi-Programming	B-Operating_System
"	O
in	O
the	O
acronym	O
points	O
to	O
this	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
the	O
earliest	O
machines	O
running	O
MUMPS	B-Language
supported	O
multiple	O
jobs	O
running	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
change	O
from	O
mini-computers	O
to	O
micro-computers	O
a	O
few	O
years	O
later	O
,	O
even	O
a	O
"	O
single	O
user	O
PC	O
"	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
8-bit	O
CPU	O
and	O
16K	O
or	O
64K	O
of	O
memory	O
could	O
support	O
multiple	O
users	O
,	O
who	O
could	O
connect	O
to	O
it	O
from	O
(	O
non-graphical	O
)	O
video	B-General_Concept
display	I-General_Concept
terminals	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
memory	O
was	O
tight	O
originally	O
,	O
the	O
language	O
design	O
for	O
MUMPS	B-Language
valued	O
very	O
terse	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
every	O
MUMPS	B-Language
command	O
or	O
function	O
name	O
could	O
be	O
abbreviated	O
from	O
one	O
to	O
three	O
letters	O
in	O
length	O
,	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Spaces	O
and	O
end-of-line	O
markers	O
are	O
significant	O
in	O
MUMPS	B-Language
because	O
line	O
scope	O
promoted	O
the	O
same	O
terse	O
language	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Abbreviation	O
was	O
a	O
common	O
feature	O
of	O
languages	O
designed	O
in	O
this	O
period	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
FOCAL-69	B-Language
,	O
early	O
BASICs	O
such	O
as	O
Tiny	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
unfortunate	O
side	O
effect	O
of	O
this	O
,	O
coupled	O
with	O
the	O
early	O
need	O
to	O
write	O
minimalist	O
code	O
,	O
was	O
that	O
MUMPS	B-Language
programmers	O
routinely	O
did	O
not	O
comment	O
code	O
and	O
used	O
extensive	O
abbreviations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
meant	O
that	O
even	O
an	O
expert	O
MUMPS	B-Language
programmer	O
could	O
not	O
just	O
skim	O
through	O
a	O
page	O
of	O
code	O
to	O
see	O
its	O
function	O
but	O
would	O
have	O
to	O
analyze	O
it	O
line	O
by	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MUMPS	B-Language
language	I-Language
provides	O
a	O
hierarchical	B-General_Concept
database	I-General_Concept
made	O
up	O
of	O
persistent	B-Application
sparse	B-Algorithm
arrays	I-Algorithm
,	O
which	O
is	O
implicitly	O
"	O
opened	O
"	O
for	O
every	O
MUMPS	B-Language
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Variables	O
using	O
this	O
shared	O
and	O
permanent	O
storage	O
are	O
called	O
Globals	O
in	O
MUMPS	B-Language
,	O
because	O
the	O
scoping	B-Language
of	O
these	O
variables	O
is	O
"	O
globally	O
available	O
"	O
to	O
all	O
jobs	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
more	O
recent	O
and	O
more	O
common	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
name	O
"	O
global	O
variables	O
"	O
in	O
other	O
languages	O
is	O
a	O
more	O
limited	O
scoping	B-Language
of	O
names	O
,	O
coming	O
from	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
unscoped	B-Language
variables	I-Language
are	O
"	O
globally	O
"	O
available	O
to	O
any	O
programs	O
running	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
process	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
shared	O
among	O
multiple	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MUMPS	B-Language
Storage	O
mode	O
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
globals	O
stored	O
as	O
persistent	B-Application
sparse	B-Algorithm
arrays	I-Algorithm
)	O
,	O
gives	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
database	O
the	O
characteristics	O
of	O
a	O
document-oriented	B-General_Concept
database	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
"	O
globals	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
locals	O
"	O
can	O
have	O
child	O
nodes	O
(	O
called	O
subscripts	O
in	O
MUMPS	B-Language
terminology	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subscripts	O
are	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
numerals	O
—	O
any	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
character	I-Protocol
or	O
group	O
of	O
characters	O
can	O
be	O
a	O
subscript	O
identifier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
capability	O
was	O
not	O
universally	O
implemented	O
in	O
MUMPS	B-Language
systems	O
before	O
the	O
1984	O
ANSI	O
standard	O
,	O
as	O
only	O
canonically	O
numeric	O
subscripts	O
were	O
required	O
by	O
the	O
standard	O
to	O
be	O
allowed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
MUMPS	B-Language
terms	O
,	O
"	O
Color	O
"	O
is	O
the	O
2nd	O
subscript	O
of	O
the	O
variable	O
(	O
both	O
the	O
names	O
of	O
the	O
child-nodes	O
and	O
the	O
child-nodes	O
themselves	O
are	O
likewise	O
called	O
subscripts	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hierarchical	O
variables	O
are	O
similar	O
to	O
objects	O
with	O
properties	O
in	O
many	O
object-oriented	B-Language
languages	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
language	I-Language
design	O
requires	O
that	O
all	O
subscripts	O
of	O
variables	O
are	O
automatically	O
kept	O
in	O
sorted	O
order	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
MUMPS	B-Language
terminology	O
,	O
this	O
is	O
canonical	O
order	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
using	O
only	O
non-negative	O
integer	O
subscripts	O
,	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
programmer	O
can	O
emulate	O
the	O
arrays	O
data	O
type	O
from	O
other	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
MUMPS	B-Language
does	O
not	O
natively	O
offer	O
a	O
full	O
set	O
of	O
DBMS	B-Application
features	O
such	O
as	O
mandatory	O
schemas	O
,	O
several	O
DBMS	B-Application
systems	O
have	O
been	O
built	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
it	O
that	O
provide	O
application	O
developers	O
with	O
flat-file	O
,	O
relational	O
,	O
and	O
network	B-General_Concept
database	I-General_Concept
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
MUMPS	B-Language
programmers	O
would	O
often	O
store	O
a	O
structure	O
of	O
related	O
information	O
as	O
a	O
delimited	O
string	O
,	O
parsing	O
it	O
after	O
it	O
was	O
read	O
in	O
;	O
this	O
saved	O
disk	O
access	O
time	O
and	O
offered	O
considerable	O
speed	O
advantages	O
on	O
some	O
hardware	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
has	O
no	O
data	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
can	O
be	O
treated	O
as	O
strings	O
of	O
digits	O
,	O
or	O
strings	O
can	O
be	O
treated	O
as	O
numbers	O
by	O
numeric	O
operators	O
(	O
coerced	O
,	O
in	O
MUMPS	B-Language
terminology	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
the	O
statement	O
IF	O
20	O
<	O
"	O
30	O
DUCKS	O
"	O
is	O
evaluated	O
as	O
TRUE	O
in	O
MUMPS	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
language	O
are	O
intended	O
to	O
help	O
MUMPS	B-Language
applications	O
interact	O
with	O
each	O
other	O
in	O
a	O
multi-user	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Database	O
locks	O
,	O
process	O
identifiers	O
,	O
and	O
atomicity	B-General_Concept
of	O
database	O
update	O
transactions	O
are	O
all	O
required	O
of	O
standard	O
MUMPS	B-Language
implementations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
languages	O
in	O
the	O
C	B-Language
or	O
Wirth	O
traditions	O
,	O
some	O
space	O
characters	O
between	O
MUMPS	B-Language
statements	O
are	O
significant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
single	O
space	O
separates	O
a	O
command	O
from	O
its	O
argument	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
space	O
,	O
or	O
newline	O
,	O
separates	O
each	O
argument	O
from	O
the	O
next	O
MUMPS	B-Language
token	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
program	O
in	O
MUMPS	B-Language
might	O
be	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
direct	O
execution	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
a	O
kind	O
of	O
"	O
label	O
"	O
(	O
any	O
alphnummeric	O
string	O
)	O
on	O
the	O
first	O
position	O
of	O
the	O
programm	O
line	O
is	O
needed	O
to	O
tell	O
the	O
mumps	B-Language
interpreter	B-Application
where	O
to	O
start	O
execution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
MUMPS	B-Language
allows	O
commands	O
to	O
be	O
strung	O
together	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
line	O
,	O
and	O
since	O
commands	O
can	O
be	O
abbreviated	O
to	O
a	O
single	O
letter	O
,	O
this	O
routine	O
could	O
be	O
made	O
more	O
compact	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Booleans	O
In	O
IF	O
commands	O
and	O
other	O
syntax	O
that	O
has	O
expressions	O
evaluated	O
as	O
conditions	O
,	O
any	O
string	O
value	O
is	O
evaluated	O
as	O
a	O
numeric	O
value	O
and	O
,	O
if	O
that	O
is	O
a	O
nonzero	O
value	O
,	O
then	O
it	O
is	O
interpreted	B-Application
as	O
True	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lines	O
are	O
important	O
syntactic	O
entities	O
,	O
unlike	O
their	O
status	O
in	O
languages	O
patterned	O
on	O
C	B-Language
or	O
Pascal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
MUMPS	B-Language
interprets	O
source	O
code	O
by	O
context	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
need	O
for	O
reserved	O
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
You	O
may	O
use	O
the	O
names	O
of	O
language	O
commands	O
as	O
variables	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
following	O
is	O
perfectly	O
legal	O
MUMPS	B-Language
code	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
can	O
be	O
made	O
more	O
obfuscated	O
by	O
using	O
the	O
contracted	O
operator	O
syntax	O
,	O
as	O
shown	O
in	O
this	O
terse	O
example	O
derived	O
from	O
the	O
example	O
above	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Arrays	O
are	O
created	O
dynamically	O
,	O
stored	O
as	O
B-trees	B-Architecture
,	O
are	O
sparse	B-Algorithm
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
are	O
stored	O
on	O
disk	O
,	O
are	O
available	O
to	O
all	O
processes	O
,	O
and	O
are	O
persistent	B-Application
when	O
the	O
creating	O
process	O
terminates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
MUMPS	B-Language
 '	O
main	O
"	O
database	O
"	O
mechanism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
used	O
instead	O
of	O
calling	O
on	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
to	O
create	O
,	O
write	O
,	O
and	O
read	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Indirection	O
in	O
many	O
contexts	O
,	O
@VBL	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
,	O
and	O
effectively	O
substitutes	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
VBL	O
into	O
another	O
MUMPS	B-Language
statement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Those	O
who	O
know	O
awk	B-Application
will	O
find	O
this	O
familiar	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
supports	O
multiple	O
simultaneous	O
users	O
and	O
processes	O
even	O
when	O
the	O
underlying	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
does	O
not	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
aspects	O
of	O
MUMPS	B-Language
syntax	O
differ	O
strongly	O
from	O
that	O
of	O
more	O
modern	O
languages	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
cause	O
confusion	O
,	O
although	O
those	O
aspects	O
vary	O
between	O
different	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
scoping	B-Language
rules	I-Language
are	O
more	O
permissive	O
than	O
other	O
modern	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
MUMPS	B-Language
database	O
references	O
differ	O
from	O
internal	O
variable	O
references	O
only	O
in	O
the	O
caret	O
prefix	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
dangerously	O
easy	O
to	O
unintentionally	O
edit	O
the	O
database	O
,	O
or	O
even	O
to	O
delete	O
a	O
database	O
"	O
table	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
US	O
Department	O
of	O
Veterans	O
Affairs	O
(	O
formerly	O
the	O
Veterans	O
Administration	O
)	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
earliest	O
major	O
adopters	O
of	O
the	O
MUMPS	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
development	O
work	O
(	O
and	O
subsequent	O
contributions	O
to	O
the	O
free	O
MUMPS	B-Language
application	O
codebase	O
)	O
was	O
an	O
influence	O
on	O
many	O
medical	O
users	O
worldwide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1995	O
,	O
the	O
Veterans	O
Affairs	O
 '	O
patient	O
Admission/Tracking/Discharge	O
system	O
,	O
Decentralized	B-Application
Hospital	I-Application
Computer	I-Application
Program	I-Application
(	O
DHCP	O
)	O
was	O
the	O
recipient	O
of	O
the	O
Computerworld	O
Smithsonian	O
Award	O
for	O
best	O
use	O
of	O
Information	O
Technology	O
in	O
Medicine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2006	O
,	O
the	O
Department	O
of	O
Veterans	O
Affairs	O
(	O
VA	O
)	O
/	O
Veterans	O
Health	O
Administration	O
(	O
VHA	O
)	O
was	O
the	O
recipient	O
of	O
the	O
Innovations	O
in	O
American	O
Government	O
Award	O
presented	O
by	O
the	O
Ash	O
Institute	O
of	O
the	O
John	O
F	O
.	O
Kennedy	O
School	O
of	O
Government	O
at	O
Harvard	O
University	O
for	O
its	O
extension	O
of	O
DHCP	O
into	O
the	O
Veterans	B-Application
Health	I-Application
Information	I-Application
Systems	I-Application
and	I-Application
Technology	I-Application
Architecture	I-Application
(	O
VistA	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nearly	O
the	O
entire	O
VA	O
hospital	O
system	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
the	O
Indian	O
Health	O
Service	O
,	O
and	O
major	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
Department	O
of	O
Defense	O
CHCS	B-Application
hospital	O
system	O
use	O
MUMPS	B-Language
databases	B-Application
for	O
clinical	O
data	O
tracking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
healthcare	O
IT	O
companies	O
using	O
MUMPS	B-Language
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
reference	O
laboratories	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
DASA	O
,	O
Quest	O
Diagnostics	O
,	O
and	O
Dynacare	O
,	O
use	O
MUMPS	B-Language
software	O
written	O
by	O
or	O
based	O
on	O
Antrim	O
Corporation	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
is	O
also	O
widely	O
used	O
in	O
financial	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MUMPS	B-Language
gained	O
an	O
early	O
following	O
in	O
the	O
financial	O
sector	O
and	O
is	O
in	O
use	O
at	O
many	O
banks	O
and	O
credit	O
unions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
2005	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
implementations	O
of	O
MUMPS	B-Language
have	O
been	O
Greystone	O
Technology	O
MUMPS	B-Language
(	O
GT.M	B-Application
)	O
from	O
Fidelity	O
National	O
Information	O
Services	O
,	O
and	O
Caché	B-Language
,	O
from	O
Intersystems	B-Application
Corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
European	O
Space	O
Agency	O
announced	O
on	O
May	O
13	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
that	O
it	O
will	O
use	O
the	O
InterSystems	B-Language
Caché	I-Language
database	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
Gaia	O
mission	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InterSystems	B-Application
is	O
in	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
phasing	O
out	O
Caché	B-Language
in	O
favor	O
of	O
Iris	O
.	O
</s>
