Introduction to the MUMPS-11 Language

This document serves as a tutorial manual for the MUMPS-11 language, designed to familiarize users with its basic programming elements and concepts in the context of a census data-gathering application. The manual is organized into chapters that progressively build upon previous information, covering topics such as:

• Getting started: Communicating with the computer via terminal, logging in, and entering basic commands.
• Programming basics: Creating variables, performing arithmetic, and using commands like TYPE, READ, SET, ERASE, and GOTO.
• Data structures: Handling subscripted variables and arrays for data management.
• Control flow: Using IF for decision-making and creating program loops.
• Memory management: Saving and loading programs from disk using FILE and LOAD.
• Global variables: Understanding permanent data storage and multilevel global structures ("trees").
• Naked references: Optimizing disk access time through efficient global references.

It is aimed at novice programmers and includes examples to be used at a terminal, while also guiding experienced users to more comprehensive reference documentation.