
Starting with JMP version 7, JSL added the ability to submit SAS code to a local or remote SAS session. The use of JSL in the JMP environment can greatly extend the usefulness of JMP in the applied statistics setting. JSL can also be accessed externally via COM (Windows). JSL is capable of creating complex object-oriented GUI and data visualization toolsets in the JMP application environment. JSL is an interpreted scripting language that is executed at runtime, and provides for manipulating JMP application platform objects in a coherent and coordinated way. JMP allows for custom programming and script development via JSL, "JMP Scripting Language". It can work with a variety of data formats, such as text files, Microsoft Excel files, SAS datasets, and ODBC-compliant databases. JMP provides a comprehensive set of statistical tools as well as design of experiments and statistical quality control in a single package. The internal acronym was later converted into the brand name for the product. Prior to its release, JMP was an acryonym of "John's Macintosh Project" ( John Sall is the co-founder of SAS and is the Executive Vice President responsible for the JMP Division).

According to an issue of the JMP newsletter, "The name JMP was chosen partly to convey the idea of a lively product that jumped responsively to the user’s wishes." However, Linux support was dropped with the release of JMP 9 in 2010. It was later released for Microsoft Windows in 1993 and Linux in 2005. JMP was originally written in 1989 for the Mac.
