Re: Yearly Fees for Support of Compiler

[jls@netcom.COM (Jim Showalter)]

>Supporting an Ada compiler is one
>of the most expensive undertakings in the software world.  These compilers
>must be revalidated on a regular basis, with an ever growing and
>changing validation suite.  Furthermore, the marketplace demands
>faster compilers, better code quality, and more features year after
>year.  Can you really expect all of this "support" to be free?

Well, look at it this way--a person on a tight budget (say, for
example, a TEACHER) is going to use the cheapest thing available.
If Ada compilers cost bazoodles of dollars and vendors add insult to injury
by requiring annual support fees, is it any great mystery why those
in academia have embraced C and C++ (both of which come with free
compilers) in lieu of Ada? And, given that the recently educated
go on to become industry programmers, is it any great mystery why
Ada has not penetrated the commercial sector?

Sadly, the very things that make Ada so great for industrial strength
programming (e.g. validation, powerful language semantics, etc) also
make it expensive--so much so that many organizations that would
greatly benefit from its use never even consider it.