I do not think the choices are either or. I think Mumps must continue to
exist to support VistA or it will wither. That does not mean it cannot
evolve. I think it is evolving. We just aren't paying attention. Cache is
not the same as Intersystems Mumps 10 years ago. I do not know about GTM,
but I bet it is not the same. It is the VA SAC that has not evolved much at
all. The hardhats community would like for all of the breeds of Mumps to
evolve in lockstep via an MDC. I fear that is a lost cause. I think we
need to learn that the language is evolving in a different way now. I
personally think it is the SAC that needs to evolve now.
Jim Gray
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Woodhouse" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 4:47 PM
Subject: RE: [Hardhats-members] MUMPS features
When you get right down to it, it's a matter of perspective. Languages
evolve, and not always in a backwardly compatible way. If the "prime
directive" is to be able to run some existing program (such as VistA)
without modification, then you're sort of stuck. But is MUMPS a
language that exists simply to run that one application? It may be just
that, but if this is so, then we can hardly wonder why there isn't more
interest in MUMPS as a language. As much as we may protest that the
design choices made in MUMPS were reasonable, the language remains
frozen in time, and increasingly unlikely to be adopted in new work.
That's a shame, too, because as I've tried to argue, there is a lot to
recommend it as a language. Obviously, there was a time when the
community thought developing a new version of the language was the
right thing to do, but that idea has been abandoned. What message does
this send to the larger development community aa to the long term
viability of MUMPS as a language? Realistically, it has become little
more than the abstract machine upon which VistA runs.
===
Gregory Woodhouse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"Design quality doesn't ensure success, but design failure can ensure
failure."
--Kent Beck
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