Magic Software Enterprises was founded in 1983 by David Assia and Yaki Dunietz as a spin-off from “Mashov Computers”,[2] a publicly traded Israeli company that provided business solutions on microcomputers. The new company was originally named “Mashov Software Export (MSE)”, and developed software for the global market, specifically an application generator named Magic.

Mashov’s major innovation was a metadata-driven approach to programming that required no compiling or linking, and also allowed instantaneous debugging. The Magic platform was originally designed and developed by Jonathan (Yoni) Hashkes, along with Miko Hasson who was responsible for programme management. During the 1980s, the company grew due to its sales of the DOS and UNIX platforms. The product was used by many large organizations, including the Israel Defense Forces.

In 1991, the company changed its name to “Magic Software Enterprises” (retaining the acronym: MSE) and became the first Israeli software company to go public on the NASDAQ.[3][2] During this period, the company developed a close relationship with IBM, focusing on AS/400 systems. In mid-1995, the first version of Magic for Windows was released.

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