Mumps

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.