The MUMPS 76 Primer – anniversary edition
The article is a primer for the MUMPS-76 programming language, written as an anniversary edition. It provides an introduction and reference to the language's syntax and features for those interested in learning or using MUMPS.
Background
- MUMPS (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System, also known as M) is a programming language and database system originally developed in 1966 at Mass General. It was designed for medical record-keeping and remains in use in healthcare (e.g., the VA's VistA system, Epic), banking, and large-scale transaction processing.
- This primer covers "MUMPS 76," an ANSI standard version from 1976. The language is unusual by modern standards: it has no type declarations, uses a single hierarchical key-value database (globals) integrated with the language, and relies heavily on interpreted execution and a string-oriented, line-numbered syntax.
- The primer is part of a project by R. Keller to create modern tooling (IDE, compiler) for MUMPS, making it more accessible to new programmers — relevant because the language still runs critical infrastructure but is rarely taught anymore.