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MUMPS

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Re: MUMPS

#61
post #6

> OPERATORS: No precedence, executed left to right, parenthesize as desired. 2+3*10 yields 50. How do you even come up with this?

I honestly prefer that over complex precedence rules.

Re: MUMPS

#62
post #45

The core idea-a language with a built-in persistent key-value store-is actually pretty cool. The classic implementation is filled with horrible warts, although arguably many of them were helpful in squeezing a production multiuser system into the tiny resource constraints of the original 1960s implementation platform (18-bit PDP-7, same machine as Unix was birthed on, although Unix soon moved to the 16-bit PDP-11, wh…

FoxPro(dBase family) was a much better take on the idea. I also dream of something modern like this ( https://tablam.org ) but is certainly a significant undertaking. Accept partners!

You might find some interesting ideas in Lil, which is also a kdb+ descendant: http://beyondloom.com/tools/trylil.html

Re: MUMPS

#63

Part-time MUMPS programmer here for a health system in NYC. I still love writing in it. The rates are way better than other eco-systems (e.g. Python, Java, blah blah) , probably because the eco-system isn't diluted with low-wage workers from India/China. This is because 95%+ of Epic/Ex-Epic employees are American. I would even argue it is the patriotic language of choice due to that reason. Expected pay of 85-120/hou…

If you don't mind me asking -- how did you find a job like this? I live in NYC, I'm looking for work, I worked briefly at Epic, I don't mind MUMPS, and honestly something involving MUMPS sounds like it's probably more my style than a lot of what else is out there. I don't really know how to look for jobs like this I'm afraid!

Re: MUMPS

#64

The core idea-a language with a built-in persistent key-value store-is actually pretty cool. The classic implementation is filled with horrible warts, although arguably many of them were helpful in squeezing a production multiuser system into the tiny resource constraints of the original 1960s implementation platform (18-bit PDP-7, same machine as Unix was birthed on, although Unix soon moved to the 16-bit PDP-11, wh…

The VA still requires "routines" to be < 20000 characters. So programming with single letter commands will always be ingrained in M code. Besides its a lot less typing :) The biggest problem I have with the ecosystem is the $P (PIECE) command (splits ^-delimited strings) bled into the GUI codebase so everywhere the devs wrote code like if Piece(3)=1 making it impossible to reason about.

Re: MUMPS

#65

Part-time MUMPS programmer here for a health system in NYC. I still love writing in it. The rates are way better than other eco-systems (e.g. Python, Java, blah blah) , probably because the eco-system isn't diluted with low-wage workers from India/China. This is because 95%+ of Epic/Ex-Epic employees are American. I would even argue it is the patriotic language of choice due to that reason. Expected pay of 85-120/hou…

Makes me curious about getting MUMPS to run locally on a Mac. I had great fun with it 15 years ago.

https://gitlab.com/Reference-Standard-M/rsm is small, no-frills, really cool. http://yottadb.com if you want one with all the bells and whistles.

Re: MUMPS

#66
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's dead-simple to parse? Remember that not all machines back then had hardware call-stacks.

It’s definitely easier to parse, but you can use shunting yard to do operator precedence parsing using very little extra memory and no recursion. I feel like the language is just poorly designed.

[deleted]

Re: MUMPS

#67

Worth linking for a hotter take: https://thedailywtf.com/articles/A_Case_of_the_MUMPS

I work in MUMPS daily and this is such an odd take to me. It's entirely possible to write very readable and maintainable MUMPS, and I find it fairly pleasant to write. There's lots of poorly written code, sure, but you can write bad software in any language.
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