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 COBOL (; an acronym for "common business-oriented language") is a compiled English-like computer programming language designed for business use. It is an imperative, procedural and, since 2002, object-oriented language. COBOL is primarily ...

. 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. MARK IV went to Sterling Software in 1985 as part of that company's acquisition of Informatics General. As CA VISION:BUILDER, it became part of the product suite from

Computer Associates CA Technologies, formerly known as CA, Inc. and Computer Associates International, Inc., is an American multinational corporation headquartered in New York City. It is primarily known for its business-to-business (B2B) software with a product p ...

once that company acquired Sterling Software in 2000. Following the acquisition of Computer Associates by

Broadcom Inc Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, broadband, wirel ...

in 2018, CA VISION:BUILDER was listed as a legacy product by the new owner.Bookshelves and PDFs, CA VISION:BUILDER
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References

External links

Oral history interview with Walter F. Bauer
at the

Charles Babbage Institute The IT History Society (ITHS) is an organization that supports the history and scholarship of information technology by encouraging, fostering, and facilitating archival and historical research. Formerly known as the Charles Babbage Foundation, ...

, University of Minnesota. Discusses the proprietary nature of software and the development of the software industry. In 1962 Bauer, Werner Frank, Richard Hill, and Frank Wagner started Informatics General Corporation as a wholly owned subsidiary of

Dataproducts Dataproducts Corporation was an early manufacturer of computer peripheral equipment. Overview Initially known as Data Products, the company was founded by Erwin Tomash in 1962 in order to take controlling interest of Telex's Data Systems Divis ...

. Bauer discusses the corporate structure, business strategies, and products of Informatics, later acquired by Sterling Software. Fourth-generation programming languages Mainframe computer software {{database-software-stub