m-Power [1] is a low-code development platform that uses a point-and-click interface to create enterprise web applications. M-Power is developed with open source languages such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. Applications created by m-Power run on any database or platform that supports Java. In addition to low-code development, m-Power also includes business intelligence and business process automation capabilities.
m-Power’s predecessors date back to 1983, when mrc developed the mrc-Query Series. The mrc-Query Series was originally built to enable business people at all levels to become independent of programmers. However, it developed a following with programmers and developers because it automated much of the tedious syntax work they faced on a daily basis.
In 1987, mrc developed the mrc-Productivity Series. The mrc-Productivity Series provided web development, rapid application development, and real-time reporting capabilities in one package. [2] Additionally, it was a “trainable” code generator, meaning users could teach the mrc-Productivity Series which language to develop applications in, as well as their own coding standards and syntax.
The mrc-Productivity Series, however, was limited to the DB2/400 database. In an effort to branch out beyond the AS/400 market, mrc trained the mrc-Productivity Series how to generate Java code. [3] Using the newly trained mrc-Productivity Series, mrc developed m-Power in 2004. [4]
A fourth-generation programming language (4GL) is a high-level computer programming language that belongs to a class of languages envisioned as an advancement upon third-generation programming languages (3GL). Each of the programming language generations aims to provide a higher level of abstraction of the internal computer hardware details, making the language more programmer-friendly, powerful, and versatile. While the definition of 4GL has changed over time, it can be typified by operating more with large collections of information at once rather than focusing on just bits and bytes. Languages claimed to be 4GL may include support for database management, report generation, mathematical optimization, GUI development, or web development. Some researchers state that 4GLs are a subset of domain-specific languages.
An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source-code editor, build automation tools, and a debugger. Some IDEs, such as IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse and Lazarus contain the necessary compiler, interpreter or both; others, such as SharpDevelop and NetBeans, do not.
The IBM AS/400 is a family of midrange computers from IBM announced in June 1988 and released in August 1988. It was the successor to the System/36 and System/38 platforms, and ran the OS/400 operating system. Lower-cost but more powerful than its predecessors, the AS/400 was extremely successful at launch, with an estimated 111,000 installed by the end of 1990 and annual revenue reaching $14 billion that year, increasing to 250,000 systems by 1994, and about 500,000 shipped by 1997.
Db2 is a family of data management products, including database servers, developed by IBM. It initially supported the relational model, but was extended to support object–relational features and non-relational structures like JSON and XML. The brand name was originally styled as DB2 until 2017, when it changed to its present form.
IBM i is an operating system developed by IBM for IBM Power Systems. It was originally released in 1988 as OS/400, as the sole operating system of the IBM AS/400 line of systems. It was renamed to i5/OS in 2004, before being renamed a second time to IBM i in 2008. It is an evolution of the System/38 CPF operating system, with compatibility layers for System/36 SSP and AIX applications. It inherits a number of distinctive features from the System/38 platform, including the Machine Interface which provides hardware independence, the implementation of object-based addressing on top of a single-level store, and the tight integration of a relational database into the operating system.
The System/38 is a discontinued minicomputer and midrange computer manufactured and sold by IBM. The system was announced in 1978. The System/38 has 48-bit addressing, which was unique for the time, and a novel integrated database system. It was oriented toward a multi-user system environment. At the time, the typical system handled from a dozen to several dozen terminals. Although the System/38 failed to displace the systems it was intended to replace, its architecture served as the basis of the much more successful IBM AS/400.
Synon was a software company which, at its height, dominated the worldwide market for third-party application development tools for the IBM i platform. Its products continue to be used in that sector today, distributed and supported by Broadcom Inc.
In computing, a visual programming language, also known as diagrammatic programming, graphical programming or block coding, is a programming language that lets users create programs by manipulating program elements graphically rather than by specifying them textually. A VPL allows programming with visual expressions, spatial arrangements of text and graphic symbols, used either as elements of syntax or secondary notation. For example, many VPLs are based on the idea of "boxes and arrows", where boxes or other screen objects are treated as entities, connected by arrows, lines or arcs which represent relations. VPLs are generally the basis of low-code development platforms.
RPG is a high-level programming language for business applications, introduced in 1959 for the IBM 1401. It is most well known as the primary programming language of IBM's midrange computer product line, including the IBM i operating system. RPG has traditionally featured a number of distinctive concepts, such as the program cycle, and the column-oriented syntax. The most recent version is RPG IV, which includes a number of modernization features, including free-form syntax.
VisualAge is a family of computer integrated development environments from IBM, which supports multiple programming languages. VisualAge was first released in October 1993. It was discontinued on April 30, 2007, and its web page was removed in September 2011. VisualAge was also marketed as VisualAge Smalltalk, and in 2005, Instantiations, Inc. acquired the worldwide rights to this product. IBM has stated that XL C/C++ is the followup product to VisualAge.
EGL, originally developed by IBM and now available as the EDT open source project under the Eclipse Public License (EPL), is a programming technology designed to meet the challenges of modern, multi-platform application development by providing a common language and programming model across languages, frameworks, and runtime platforms.
Altova is a commercial software development company with headquarters in Beverly, MA, United States and Vienna, Austria, that produces integrated XML, JSON, database, UML, and data management software development tools.
LINC is a fourth-generation programming language, used mostly on Unisys computer systems.
LANSA is an integrated development environment (IDE) for building desktop, web, and mobile software applications that can be deployed to Cloud, Windows, Linux, and IBM server platforms. The main feature of the LANSA environment is the 'RDML / RDMLX' language–which is classified as a 4GL. RDML closely follows the syntax of IBM CL or Control Language. CL is the "scripting language" equivalent of the OS/400 operating system. In recent years RDML has been extended to become RDMLX. This new version of the language has extra features, commands, types, and functions that are used in component development. RDML, on Microsoft Windows, integrates with ActiveX.
CGIDEV2 is a free and open source IBM i based program development toolkit that facilitates the development of interactive web-based programs using RPG ILE or Cobol as the back-end Common Gateway Interface language. The functionality of this toolset is incorporated into an RPG ILE program by means of a service program that contains all of the procedures required to read input from a browser, generate and send the appropriate response back to the browser. CGIDEV2 is commonly used to generate static or interactive HTML/DHTML pages but it can also produce CSV, XML, Excel-XML and other text based files.
The DASL Programming Language is a high-level, strongly typed programming language originally developed at Sun Microsystems Laboratories between 1999 and 2003 as part of the Ace Project. The goals of the project were to enable rapid development of web-based applications based on Sun's J2EE architecture, and to eliminate the steep learning curve of platform-specific details.
Morfik Technology Pty Ltd. is an Australian software company that was acquired by Altium in 2010.
Aldon is a business unit of Rocket Software. It develops, manufactures, licenses and supports software change management products for the enterprise application lifecycle management (ALM) and software change management (SCM) markets.
Infor XA is commercial ERP software used to control the operations of manufacturing companies. Its prior name, MAPICS, is an acronym for Manufacturing, Accounting and Production Information Control Systems. MAPICS was created by IBM. The product is now owned by Infor Global Solutions.
The Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming Award was an annual prize given to individuals who, in the opinion of the editors of Dr. Dobb's Journal, "made significant contributions to the advancement of software development." The Excellence in Programming Award includes a $1,000 prize that was donated in the award winner's name to a charity of the winner's choice. The award was launched in 1995 in the print edition of Dr. Dobb's Journal and was given each year until 2009. In his March 1995 article introducing the awards, then editor-in-chief Jonathan Erickson wrote that the award was intended to recognize "achievement and excellence in the field of computer programming." Erickson explained that the winners were "selected by a special editorial committee" of the magazine. Because Dr. Dobb's serves an audience of software developers, the Excellence in Programming Award is specifically intended to recognize resources for programmers: languages, code libraries, tutorial books, and so on. Developers of shrinkwrap software intended for retail sale, custom software for corporate use, embedded software, or general-purpose applications were not considered for the award.