What is M Technology?

M Technology refers to the suite of technologies that includes the language specification, M, and related bindings and protocols.

M Technology is a programming language, database management system and related bindings and protocols. The main features of M are:

Also integrated in M Technology are:

Portability and scalability

MUMPS (also known as M) is available on most platforms, including PC's and UNIX. Common capabilities are provided throughout the computer spectrum from desktop processors to enterprise-wide systems. Each M implementation is tailored to its host environment, delivering exceptional performance. The ISO standard includes statements on portability, identifying the minimum set of requirements which all M implementations must meet.

The Language M[UMPS] has been an ANSI standard since 1977, with updates in 1984, 1990, and 1995. The identical standard has been adopted by ISO, BSI and FIPS. A worldwide M Development Committee evaluates enhancement requests and recommends improvements to the standard.

M Technology supports new developments in computing technology - distributed databases, Windows and GUI's, SQL and client-server architecture - while the standard ensures backward compatibility.

M has a strong emphasis on text handling and database management, with multi-user and multi-tasking support. The code is extremely compact because commands can be abbreviated, lines contain multiple commands, and each command can be associated with a separate run-time condition.

In addition to its portability, M is popular because it is simple and direct with a relatively small command set, providing the power and flexibility of a 3GL, with the programming ease of a 4GL.

World-wide Support for M

M is supported by M Technology Associations located across the United States, UK, Europe (including Eastern Europe), the Pacific Rim and South America. These groups are vendor-independent with members from hardware and software vendors, academic institutions and end-users. There are also many independent local MUMPS User Groups in the United States.

Defined at a high level, M is a comprehensive development through run-time software technology. M is a procedural, interpreted general-purpose programming language oriented towards database applications. Its characteristic features are:

The environment includes a high-performance database and fully integrated graphical user interface. The ANSI standard M Language upon which M Technology is based shares the attributes of high productivity terseness and power found in fourth generation languages (4GLs). M also provides the benefits of open, multi-vendor platform development and industry recognized standards that are missing from traditional proprietary 4GLs.

M's roots are in the healthcare industry. It was first developed at Massachusetts General Hospital and named MUMPS (MGH Utility Multi-Programming Systems). MUMPS became an ANSI standard in 1977. It received Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) approval in 1986 (FIPS 125).

M is the most portable development language available.
Developing a port might take six months for another language but can take less than a week for M. This portability is ensured in part by the MUMPS Development Committee's ongoing work in developing and maintaining the M standard, which is recognized by three important standard bodies: American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as ANSI/MDC X11.1/1990; the U.S. Government under the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) as FIPS 125-1; and the International Organization for Standardization as ISO/IEC 11756.
Unlike other database languages, M is nonproprietary.
M is designed efficiently to accommodate transaction processing, database management, and distributed computing. Nearly a dozen vendors implement the M ANSI standard language on more than 200 platforms from the smallest to the largest and under every known operating system around the world. Various M tools available through independent vendors provide data dictionaries and other management functions.
Computing's next generation, a generation of interoperability.
This previously little-known programming language called MUMPS has become a suite of technologies with exciting computing potential. Quietly, M has grown into a strong and multifaceted contender in the information technology marketplace. As it grew, M generated a loyal following of both programmers and users. According to a recent market survey by Gartner Group, Inc., this loyalty is attributed to M's excellent reliability, database capabilities, productivity, and system availability and expandability. M's speed picked up until it rated as one of the best "bang-for-the-buck" transaction processors around. It unfolded a binding to the popular data interface SQL. And it gained an open system interconnect to put it a class ahead of other open systems today.
M: Poised to Grow Four Times Faster Than Other Technologies
A Gartner Group, Inc., market study found that hardware and software sales related to M products reached the $1 billion mark in 1992 and will likely reach $2 billion per year by 1995. This forecast is four times the expected growth rate of the general information technology (IT) market, which is projected to grow from $350 billion in 1991 to $480 billion in 1996. The Gartner Group based this growth in part on major developments within the M community in the areas of graphical user interfaces, networked PCs, client/server architecture, open application environments, image processing, document management, and SQL access. (The detailed survey is available from the M Technology Association)
M: The New Technologies
As an ANSI standard, M is updated constantly with enhancements, and approved again as a whole every few years. The latest round of enhancements to the standard has focused on adding syntax and functionality in new technologies, especially graphics, windowing, SQL, transaction processing, and open systems.

Bindings to popular and useful industry standards allow M users to employ available technologies in concert with their M systems. Currently, bindings to SQL, X Window, graphics, and TCP are available. The M Windowing Application Program Interfaces provides another windowing option.

MTRC Home page | M Info

From MUMPS of Georgia's site:
Who uses M? | Companies involved in M Technology | M User Groups