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From: edi@HADASSAH.BITNET (Edi Landau)
Newsgroups: mod.computers.vax
Subject: Re: Mumps
Message-ID: <8701221633.AA14015@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Tue, 20-Jan-87 23:42:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8701221633.AA14015
Posted: Tue Jan 20 23:42:00 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 23-Jan-87 00:48:06 EST
Sender: serge@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
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Marty Sasaky's nasty comments about Mumps are all true, BUT being
meself a MUMPS programmer for over eight years, I fell honour
bound to reply:

Comments:  True Mumps comments are (typically) only used in the
label line of a subroutine.  All other comments will be removed
by the editor when saving the routine.

Scope of variables:  The days of old are gone.  In all new Mumps
implementations the scope of variables can be limited with the
NEW command.

Most implementations now do precompile Mumps code.

Also:  Mumps programs are written much faster than programs in
conventional languages.  They are obviously debugged much faster
and lo-and-behold will execute much faster than equivalent RMS
programs.  Since one can write FORTRAN (styled) programs in any
langauge (even LISP) one of course can write them in Mumps too
(That's like the man who speaks seven langauges, all of them in
Yiddish).

To summarize:  Mumps is not a general purpose language, but what
Mumps is intended to do, it does indeed very well.  It does need
some getting used to, but it easily becomes an addiction.

Edi Landau,    Edi@Hadassah.BITNET
Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.