M[UMPS]

standardized ACID NoSQL environment from 60s

So what's M?

compact data-oriented programming language
schema-less multidimensional database

Features

code hot loading
code as data
data as code ($T)
interpreted vs compiled
(GT.M dlopen vs Cache hybrid pretokenized)
replication
networked
portable
multiplatform
ACID
no threads, only JOBs (=> heavy threads mgr)
ideal for BI systems

Brief History

first appeared in late 60s on PDP-7
primarily targeted for healthcare
multiple different implementations
ANSI standardized in late 70s
widely used on DEC PDP-11
VAX/VMS ports (not just DSM)
DSM-11 OS --> VAX/DSM layered
product for VMS and Ultrix
Alpha and PC ports
allmost all the significant commercial implementations merged to InterSystems branch
ISO standard
MUMPS ~= M --> M[UMPS]

M language

one universal datatype
truthvalues, string is evaluated as numeric, nonzero = true
no need for declarations (N[EW])
multiline blocks are dotted
variable names and labels are case sensitive, the rest is not
routine names can begin on %, usually system routines
postconditionals COMMAND:TVAL ARGUMENTS
abbreviation: all commands can be abbreviated to one or two characters: S[ET], K[ILL], F[OR], ...
no reserved words
arrays = b-trees -- local, global
indirection: "eval++"
piece, order, networking

Selected Standard Commands

S[ET]
K[ILL]
R[EAD]
W[RITE]
D[O]
Q[UIT]
F[OR]
G[OTO]
X[ECUTE]
and others, including Z*

Selected Standard Functions

$D[ata]
$P[iece]
$E[xtract]
$S[elect]
$O[rder]
...and others, including $Z*

Demo Time

Basic data structures and operations on them:

$P[ieces]
arrays: local, global

M[UMPS] products

DSM-11 -- MUMPS OS for PDP-11
MSM-WS -- acquired by InterSystems as a part of Micronetics, no alternative product yet
"MUMPS" on SourceForge -- at least the author uses it commercially
MiniM -- Russians have their own MUMPS too! ;-)
(and not just one variant)
Sanchez/FIS GT.M
InterSystems Caché, DeepSee, Ensemble, GlobalsDB
EGTM, IDEA Object DB (IODB)
M/Gateway's projects and papers

Not MUMPS, but related: FoundationDB

Differences

InterSystems Caché

application server with persistent storage rather than just DB,
"universal solution for everything"
Caché Object Script, massive libraries
built-in middleware
classes, SQL mapping, T-SQL (Sybase and MS-SQL) compatibility
ignoring potential contributors,
(obvious bugs vs expected behavior, contributors-unfriendly)
costs not just $$$ but $$$$$$$$$
layered products for BI and SI

Sanchez/FIS GT.M

just MUMPS
do one thing, do it well
one OS process per job, no "server" daemon process
the source is open for some platforms
open and helpful to contributors
truly ACID
lots of frameworks to add middleware, SQL, objects, ...

Differences 2

InterSystems Caché

all the routine sources are stored in DB
no triggers, only in sense of SQL/OOP

Sanchez/FIS GT.M

every routine is a single file on the host filesystem (nice for RCS)
triggers

Manufacturing industry

IDEA ERP, IDEA-mzdy

partially developed on Caché (for historical reasons)
automatically converted to GT.M
core is pure MUMPS
legacy "VT725" front-end
modern ReactJS based WebUI that aims for ergonomy and data entry effectivity as well as for management reporting
Erlang/OTP middleware, "business objects" via IDEA Object DB
shipped as Docker containers with ZFS, Erlang, GT.M, ...
reason why we tried to port GT.M onto another platforms
one of the recent projects: furniture manufacturing for IKEA

Interesting Caché projects: Mileta, GfK, ElectroWorld, ...

Banking industry

FIS PROFILE core-banking

FIS GT.M
DATA-QWIK framework
PROFILE Scripting Language
pluggable messaging
Java integration
Eclipse based development tools
SQL (not SQL92 compatible) support, JDBC driver

DON treasury and investment suite

ISC Caché
IDEA-System
IDEA-WebSystem

Healthcare industry

Caché: a lot of hospitals and laboratories all over the world even in Czech and Slovak regions. Sometimes developed by small vendors, sometimes directly by InterSystems.
some of the current Caché customers tend to migrate to GT.M-based solutions.
OpenVista -- GT.M or Caché backend, C# (Mono) client app, many addons for web

Demo time

IDEA-System
IDEA-WebSystem (?)
FIS DATA-QWIK, PSL, FB*SYS/Tools
IDEA ObjectDB
IDEA UI V2
IWIS internals

Comparation of the mentioned.

Resources

Questions?

Feel free to reach me!

@tmr_cz on Twitter

@ztmr on GitHub