MARK IV is a fourth-generation programming language that was created by Informatics, Inc. in the 1960s. Informatics took advantage of IBM's decision to unbundle their software; MARK IV was the first "software product to have cumulative sales of $10 million".

MARK IV was developed for IBM Systems (360 and 370) and for the RCA Spectra 70. Its main benefit was allowing faster application development on the order of 6 to 10 times faster than doing a system using a 3GL, such as COBOL. MARK IV, being an early 4GL, allowed user development of systems related to business. In a 1971 ad by Informatics, there are several quotes from customers, such as:

We conservatively estimate that the benefits derived from the MARK IV System have completely returned the cost of our investment in a period of less than 3 months.
MARK IV runs ... handle Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Sales Analyses, etc. on about 26 different factories.[1]

MARK IV went to Sterling Software in 1985 as part of that company's acquisition of Informatics General. As CA VISION:BUILDER,[2] it became part of the product suite from Computer Associates once that company acquired Sterling Software in 2000.[3] Following the acquisition of Computer Associates by Broadcom Inc in 2018, CA VISION:BUILDER was listed as a legacy product by the new owner.[4]

References

  1. ^ MARK IV The general purpose software product line for business data processing Informatics, Inc.
  2. ^ VISION:BUILDER
  3. ^ Interface to DB2
  4. ^ Bookshelves and PDFs, CA VISION:BUILDER

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