Resources -- Compilers

Free Development Systems

We have information about the following free Ada 95 compilers:

ObjectAda for Windows and for Unix
GNAT: The GNU NYU Ada 9X Translator
GW ez2load for DOS (based on GNAT --Ada 95-- see above)

We have information about the following free Ada 83 compilers:

GW-Ada/Ed for Apple Macintosh (based on Ada/Ed --Ada 83-- see below)
GW-Ada/Ed for 386/486 DOS machines (but see ez2load above)
Ada/Ed, an interpreter for Ada 83 (but see ez2load above)
SmallAda, an old subset

The above compilers are "free" but not "public-domain." Apart from ObjectAda by Aonix, they are distributed under FSF "copyleft." "Copyleft" software (e.g. GNU compilers) means there is no warranty, and you have permission to copy, modify, and further distribute the source. But you can't charge anyone for the code, even if modified. Finally, distributed code (always including source) must be subject to exactly the same conditions. These compilers are free to the extent that you don't pay money to buy them; you only pay with your own time to copy and install them.

Note also that many vendors donate compilers and related tools as part of their educational programs, and that there are several high-quality, low-cost Ada compilers which give you a lot of tools and support for the money.

Page last modified: 1998-02-10