MUMPS is a pretty old programming language. I first started using it in 1990 at ESI Technology Corporation. It should have been an artificial intelligence language, but instead it was used primarily in Medical information technology.

Unfortunately the designers and key players in the development of MUMPS didn't have a unifying vision about how the language should be used, and at this point it has all but faded into obscurity. Which is too bad, because it's a brilliant language/environment that still has a lot of potential.

I have used MUMPS to write the HTTP server that is serving this information to you right now. When your browser makes a request to zoltan.org, a MUMPS program is reading that request, and determining what web page to send back as a response. It is using a simple inheritance model to compose a web page by combining system-level information, site-level information, and page-specific information together with the actual document you requested.

GT.M was one of the major players among MUMPS implementations for many years. It is unique in that it is fully compiled, unlike other MUMPS systems that are byte-coded similar to Java. While all of the other major implementations were purchased by a single company and combined into a single (and pricey) post-MUMPS product, the Linux implementation of GT.M is free and open source software. Making it the best choice for use as a web server in my opinion.

This system is still evolving. I will probably release the source code in some fashion in the future. Right now it's not quite ready, but check back again in the future and you may see the source code posted here.