M is an integrated programming language and database management system used in tens
of thousands of applications on computers ranging from PCs to IBM Mainframes.
It is the most portable system in the world with implementations on over 200 of
the most popular hardware platforms. More importantly, because it is so highly
efficient, hardware upgrades are avoided by using existing equipment more
Applications range from small database applications where flexibility of design and
speed of access are priorities, to the very largest.
Some examples of large M users are:
Partners Healthcare (Boston, USA) has the largest integrated client/server
network in the world with 33,000 connected users, over 5,000 simultaneous
users averaging 3.6 billion database hits per day.
Ameritrade, an online brokerage business in the US, has grown 100% this year
and has recorded 12 billion transactions per day over the web.
The performance of M is truly astonishing. Intersystems quote the following for
Caché, their implementation of M.
"...with SQL performance then we typically find that Caché is between 2 and
20 times faster than the legacy SQL databases such as Oracle, Informix, Sybase etc.
The exact performance increase depending on data complexity, join complexity etc."
Again, KLAS Enterprises published a report in January 2002 comparing Caché
with Oracle, and concluded that Caché outperformed Oracle by more than 2:1
in hardware required and 2.5:1 in Database Accesses required.
PRIAM business software, based on the M21 implementation of M, records
performance improvements of 2 to 20 times the performance of other databases.
So, What is M Technology ?
M technology is a programming language, database management system and 'sub-operating'
system i.e. tasks are controlled by M within the limits of say NT or UNIX.
The main features of M are:
- A comprehensive procedural language
- Support for object-style event-driven processing
- In integrated hierarchical data management facility
- Bullet-proof database security and transaction processing
- A multi-user, multi-tasking operating environment
- Integrated interprocess communication
- Support for distributed data and distributed processing
- High-performance client-server networking capabilities
Also integrated in M technology are:
- Relational data manipulation tools
- Industry standard SQL
- SQL based connectivity
- Interfaces to windowing managers
- ANSI X3.64 standard support for character devices
- ANSI GKS standard support for graphic devices
M is Portable
The fact that M is so portable ensues from it being an ANSI standard language and
database. This means that anybody can develop M in accordance with the standard and
so there are now many implementations of M that can be transferred from machine to
machine, operating system to operating system in minutes rather than weeks.
Nearly a dozen vendors implement the M ANSI standard language on more than 200
platforms from the smallest to the largest and under virtually every known operating
system around the world. Various M tools available through independent vendors provide
data dictionaries and other management functions.
Originally developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology MUMPS as it was then
named was only the third language (after COBOL and FORTRAN), and the first database
to be given the ANSI standard.
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, XML, Web servers and client-server architecture
- while the standard ensures backward compatibility.
M is Scalable
Companies such as Ameritrade and Partners Healthcare System Inc. cited earlier show
the scalability of M. How is this possible?
M has evolved from the mini and mainframe computer world where enormous numbers
of users accessed gigantic databases. M just doesn't compare to the type of
database systems that have evolved in the PC era, but the beauty of it is that
this super-performing database management system is easily ported to PCs thus
gaining the benefit of an extremely inexpensive platform to run on. Obviously
the cost/benefits of an M system outweigh any other.
M provides Performance
An idea of the performance gain of M over other technologies is given in the
examples given previously.
The Department of Justice in Switzerland handles some 1.5 million transactions a
day arising from 1,400 workstations in 43 locations. Switching from Sybase to
Caché improved their performance 20 times over.
Studies show that M can, for the same processing with the same response time, cut
processing power requirements by more than a factor of four when compared to
relational database management systems and also reduce disk usage dramatically.
Cost Effective / Flexible Programming
Programming under M is much faster than with conventional languages. A typical M
program requires less than 8% of the number of statements of a comparable COBOL
M combines an application programming language, a job control language, a linkage
editor, a database management system and a data communications monitor. All these
combine to produce a comprehensive yet flexible development and production
One major reason for the performance obtained from M and its ease of programming
lies in having a language with an integrated database - there is no separate process
of calling/linking to another piece of software or language complexities.
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.
Examples of M Users
- Bank of England
- Barclays Bank
- Beijing Medical University
- British Gas
- British Petroleum
- Carphone Warehouse
- Chase Manhattan Bank
- Coca Cola and Schweppes
- Cornhill Insurance
- Department of Health & Social Security UK (DHSS)
- Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)
- Domestic & General
- Dow Chemicals
- English Tourist Board
- Equity & Law
- Games Workshop
- General Motors
- Grecian Holidays
- Hamburg Ports Authority
- Helsinki University Hospital
- Hoffman La Roche
- Indian Health Service
- Koor Foods, Israel
- Legal & General Insurance
- Lloyds Bank
- Meyer International
- Ministry of Defence (UK)
- National Health Service
- National Westminster Bank
- Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij
- New York Stock Exchange
- Psychiatric Institutes of America
- Reed Information Services
- RIPAS Hospital, Brunei
- Smithsonian Institute
- Soviet Parliament
- Swiss Parliament
- Tottenham Hotspurs FC
- Trinity College
- University of Adelaide
- University of Cologne
- US Department of Defense
- Waterford Crystal
- West Ham United FC
Computing's next generation, a generation of interoperability.
Having read the detail above, and being new to M, you must agree that M is
computing's best kept secret. This arose because M is so good - the ANSI standard
meant that there was a world-wide community committed to M but not being commercially
driven had no 'marketing department'. Moreover M was traditionally used by
developers who didn't broadcast the product that gave them a competitive advanatage
over their rivals.
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.
Another Gartner Group report forecast that M would grow at 4 times the rate of
other technologies and we are certain that the commercial orientation of companies
now pushing the technology forward will prove this.