Re: Ada saved by gnat (was Re: Where's Aetech?)

[dewar@cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)]

"I do wonder though, at why gcc and g++ have not put a damper on the C and C++
markets despite far greater acceptance in the commercial computing world than
Gnat.  Commercial chip companies pay to get gcc and g++ ported to their
architecture and don't feel like they're paying homage to the late, great USSR."

I don't particularly see why you would think that gcc/g++ should put a
damper on the market place. They are just one of many competitive products.
Cygnus aims at a fairly high point in the market, providing a good product
at a price that is reasonable for what you get, but certainly not in the
$50/$100 range (a typical price for Cygnus support per seat is $2500/year)

So Cygnus gets a share of the market, and so do many others. What gcc and
g++ certainly HAVE done, is to increase the use and acceptance of C in
universities, and that of course is the key to use.

In the case of Ada 95, I think by 1996 you will see some pretty lively
competition. By then GNAT will have some nice environments wrapped around
it on the PC and Mac, and the Intermetrics educational compiler will also
appear, presumably at a low, accessible price. Educational users will
hopefully be able to sit back and take advantage of this competition. I
don't know if others will enter this low price arena, but two is not
a bad value to stimulate some technical competition!