Mumps

Computers use special codes to work. One code helps doctors keep track of you. It was made in a hospital long ago.

This code keeps health facts safe. It can do many jobs at once. This helps many hospitals stay busy.

It is a very fast tool. It can read and write data quickly. It was made by three men in a lab.

Many people use it today. It helps most patients in the U.S. It is a very smart tool.

Do you like computers?

Computers use special languages to follow instructions. One such language is called MUMPS. It was made in the 1960s. Three men built it at a hospital in Boston. They wanted a better way to manage patient records. They worked in a lab at Massachusetts General Hospital.

MUMPS is a very fast tool. It has a built-in database. A database is a way to store and find facts. This lets the computer read and write data very quickly. It was also built for multitasking. This means it can do many jobs at the same time. This was very new for computers back then.

Today, MUMPS is still very important. It is used for health records in the United States. One system called Epic uses it. This system helps over 78% of patients in the U.S. Some people now call the language "M." This is because the old name was hard to market. Even so, both names are still used today.

MUMPS is a special computer language used to build databases. A database is a way to store and organize facts. The name MUMPS stands for Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System. It is very important for keeping track of health information. In the United States, it helps manage records for over 78% of patients. One large system called Epic uses this technology to provide health services.

This language works by combining two main tools into one. It is a high-level language, which means it is easy for people to write. It also has an integrated database built right inside it. This allows the computer to read and write information to a disk very quickly. It can also do many jobs at once, which is called multitasking. This was a very special feature for computers during its early years.

Three men created MUMPS in the 1960s. Neil Pappalardo, Robert A. Greenes, and Curt Marble worked on it in a lab. They worked at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. They were frustrated with how they had to write code back then. They wanted a better way to manage patient records and lab information. They built their own version in a special project.

In 1966 and 1967, the team began their work. They used early computers like the DEC PDP-7 and the PDP-9. By May 1971, a version was installed in Denver. In 1972, many users met in Boston to make the language standard. This led to an official ANSI standard in 1977. Later, in the 1990s, the language was also recognized as an ISO standard.

You can think of MUMPS like a very organized filing cabinet. Most computers need separate tools to talk to a filing cabinet. MUMPS has the cabinet built directly into the language itself. This makes it much faster to find what you need. Some people now call the language "M" instead of MUMPS. This change happened because some leaders thought the old name was hard to market.

MUMPS is a specialized, high-level programming language designed to build powerful database applications. The name is an acronym for the Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System. It is unique because it combines a programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. This integration allows for direct, high-speed read-write access to permanent disk storage. Today, this technology remains vital to the medical field. In the United States, MUMPS-based information systems provide health services for over 78% of all patients. One major example is Epic Systems, which uses this technology to manage vast amounts of health data.

The core mechanism of MUMPS relies on its integrated database structure. In most computer systems, the language used to write programs is separate from the database used to store information. MUMPS changes this by building the database directly into the language itself. This design allows the language to handle disk operations through a hierarchical database file system. This system abstracts disk operations, meaning the language manages the data storage automatically. Because the language controls how data is accessed, it can perform tasks with extreme speed. This efficiency was essential when computers had very little memory.

MUMPS was built with several advanced technical features. One major feature is multitasking, which is the ability to run multiple programs at the same time. During the era when MUMPS was developed, most mini-computers could not run parallel programs. Even larger mainframe computers often used batch processing, where one program must finish before another starts. MUMPS enforced multitasking through the language itself rather than through hardware. This prevented common errors where one process might accidentally change the memory of another. Another key feature is portability, which allows the language to work on many different types of computer hardware.

The history of MUMPS began in the mid-1960s due to technical frustration. Neil Pappalardo, Robert A. Greenes, and Curt Marble developed the system in Dr. Octo Barnett's lab. They worked at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston during 1966 and 1967. At the time, they were using assembly language on a time-shared PDP-1 computer. They were unhappy with the existing development environment and started an internal "skunkworks" project. This was a private, experimental project to create a better alternative. In 1967, Dr. Barnett proposed using MUMPS for the hospital's computer project instead of the existing approach. The proposal was funded, and the system began serious implementation.

As the technology grew, it moved across many different hardware platforms. The original system was built on a DEC PDP-7. Later, developers used the DEC PDP-9 for hospital admissions and laboratory reporting. By May 1971, a version was installed at Health Data Management Systems in Denver. Because the project was funded by a government research grant, MUMPS was released into the public domain. This allowed it to be ported to many other systems, such as the DEC PDP-8 and the Data General Nova. In the fall of 1972, users met in Boston to standardize the language. This led to the first ANSI standard, X11.1-1977, being approved on September 15, 1977.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, various companies created different versions of the language. Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) was a major player with its DSM-11 and VAX DSM products. InterSystems became a dominant force by acquiring several other vendors. They consolidated many products into a single line and launched Caché in 1997. Other companies like Greystone Technology Corporation and MGlobal also produced important implementations. MGlobal created the first commercial MUMPS for the IBM PC. The language also saw several official revisions to its standards. The third revision was approved in 1990, and the fourth in 1995. By 1992, the language was also adopted as an ISO standard.

There has been a long-standing discussion regarding the official name of the language. While many still use the name MUMPS, others prefer the shorter name "M." This change was supported by the Mumps User Groups in 1992. Some leaders, including the chief executive of InterSystems, felt the original name was a marketing obstacle. This led to a rivalry between different organizations over which name was official. Despite these naming disputes, the technology remains highly relevant. Today, the ISO still recognizes both M and MUMPS as officially accepted names. The language continues to serve as a foundation for complex, high-speed medical data systems worldwide.