Re: IBM Acquires Rational Ada

[Richard Riehle <richard@adaworks.com>]

Steven Deller wrote:

> Richard,
> I'd bet that when the smoke clears, Rational Ada will live on pretty
> much as now.  It is possible that IBM will actually add support for it.

Thanks.  I realize you are in a better position to offer an opinion about
this because of your close association with Rational for many years.

> It can't go away -- too many large users of Rational Ada (who are also
> IBM customers) will bring pressure to keep support of the product.

Good point.   Another poster, Steve_H, suggests that GNAT is the last
word in Ada compiler technology.   Of  course that is dead wrong.  In
the case of Rational, my customers find the Rational Ada run-time to be
an important feature.  Some believe, after running their own benchmarks,
that Rational Ada is better for high-performance embedded applications.
This takes nothing away from GNAT.  Different products meet different
needs.  GNAT's contribution is enormous and necessary.

There is not only room for more than one Ada compiler product in the
marketplace, there is a need for more than one.  Each of the compiler
publishers has a unique contribution.   I often direct my clients to
explore the options from ICC, DDC-I, Aonix, and Green Hills, along
with the better known options such as Rational and GNAT.

I agree with you that IBM could benefit the visibility of Ada with its
own clients -- but only if the widespread misconceptions about the
language can be reversed.    In particular, Dr. Norm Cohen could make
a huge difference within IBM.  He is probably the most visible, and
to those of outside IBM, the most knowledgeable person with the
IBM corporate structure when it comes to Ada.