Re: Where's Aetech?

[stt@spock.camb.inmet.com (Tucker Taft)]

GNAT has almost single-handledly rekindled grass-roots interest
in Ada over the past 18 months.  Without GNAT, there would have
been no widely available compiler that implemented Ada 95 features
for the past 18 months.  AETech's compiler was Intel/DOS or 
Intel/POSIX only, and was not FTP-able by the new generation 
of Internet junkies.  

Note that AETech fed at the same "trough" we all did the past 5 years, 
namely the Ada 9X Project Office.  The money provided by the Ada 9X
project office enabled the Ada 9X mapping/revision process to successfully
produce the first ISO standardized object-oriented programming language
(pretty much on time ;-), while also funding three user/implementor 
teams (AETech/RR, Unisys/Telesoft, and TRW/Tartan), funding GNAT, 
promoting Ada's usage in universities, developing commercially-oriented 
marketing materials, etc.

Without the efforts funded by the DoD's Ada 9X project office over the past
five years, it is clear that Ada would not be seeing the resurgence
in interest it is now.

No Ada vendor of any sort is going to make money if there are no
Ada programmers.  Funding GNAT was an extremely cost-effective way 
to boost the number of Ada programmers.

Note that there are "free" GNU compilers for other languages as well.
These compilers have often been helpful in "legitimizing" these 
languages, by giving developers the confidence that there will
be a language-X compiler available when they move to their next
hardware platform, whatever it is.  Certainly the availability of g++ 
helped with the success of C++ in the "early" days, by allowing
companies to try C++ without overcommitting.  GNAT can and is
serving that very same role for Ada 95.

-Tucker Taft  stt@inmet.com
Intermetrics, Inc.