As a programmer at ACT Financial Systems, I worked on their main product, a legacy text-based investment management application written in Mumps, used by major UK banks. Despite its functional richness, the application appeared outdated.
I joined a small team tasked with modernizing the software by adding a contemporary MS Windows front-end. I proposed running the existing application in “server mode” and using a Windows client to feed it keystrokes. Mumps procedures interfaced with Windows requests, sending appropriate keystrokes to the legacy code. The output from the legacy code was intercepted to automatically generate and cache Windows dialogues.
My proposal was adopted, and after approximately a year of development, it became a favorite tool for the sales team to demonstrate new modules to clients. This project also marked my introduction to C++ and MS Windows programming.