trends

[coal]

Recently a large company made online versions of their word
processing and related products available. I guess they
were responding to another large company that already has
this sort of functionality online. More recently I read that Quicken
and other money management programs are
now available online.

It seems like C++ is falling behind the curve again in
this area. In 1977 Comeau debuted their "online
compiler." It was great at the time, but they haven't
done anything with it since. Surprisingly other compiler
vendors haven't even bothered to take similar steps. Are
any vendors planning to take the plunge any time soon?

They might not attempt to provide object code for
multiple platforms, but they could provide fully
instantiated source code that could be used as input
to a simpler, local compiler. That might require a
whole program assumption, but that isn't a problem
in most cases.

Brian Wood
Ebenezer Enterprises
www.webebenezer.net

 

[Rolf Magnus]

Recently a large company made online versions of their word
processing and related products available. I guess they
were responding to another large company that already has
this sort of functionality online. More recently I read that Quicken
and other money management programs are
now available online.

It seems like C++ is falling behind the curve again in
this area. In 1977 Comeau debuted their "online
compiler." It was great at the time, but they haven't
done anything with it since.

Not sure what you mean by "online compiler", but you can try out Comeau
online AFAIK.

Surprisingly other compiler vendors haven't even bothered to take similar
steps. Are any vendors planning to take the plunge any time soon?

A few years ago, SourceForge had a compile farm that you could use to
compile your opensource software for various platforms. That might still
exist. I haven't checked for a while.

They might not attempt to provide object code for
multiple platforms, but they could provide fully
instantiated source code that could be used as input
to a simpler, local compiler. That might require a
whole program assumption, but that isn't a problem
in most cases.

I don't see what that would be good for.

 

[coal]

Not sure what you mean by "online compiler", but you can try out Comeau
online AFAIK.

I'm talking about a compiler that is designed to not exit after one
run, is
available online, and returns more than warnings.

A few years ago, SourceForge had a compile farm that you could use to
compile your opensource software for various platforms. That might still
exist. I haven't checked for a while.


I don't see what that would be good for.

It would help with portability. Generated code would either
be correct (on all platforms) or not.

It would also be easier to get updates to people that want them.

Brian Wood
Ebenezer Enterprises
www.webebenezer.net

 

[Juha Nieminen]

It seems like C++ is falling behind the curve again in
this area. In 1977 Comeau debuted their "online
compiler."

Given that C++ was developed in 1979 (and not even named "C++"
until 1983), I have hard time believing that.

 

[Victor Bazarov]

Given that C++ was developed in 1979 (and not even named "C++"
until 1983), I have hard time believing that.

Well, nobody said Comeau debuted a C++ compiler.

V

 

[coal]

Given that C++ was developed in 1979 (and not even named "C++"
until 1983), I have hard time believing that.

I was kidding. I was trying to make the point that it has
been quite a while and they haven't, as far as I can tell,
developed the idea. They took the lead and still have it,
but it wouldn't be very difficult for another company to
catch up with them. Microsoft, one of the companies I
referred to in the original post, seems to have only made
their word processing software available online because of
competition. They could have done it years ago. It may be
a similar situation here.

Brian

 

[James Kanze]

Given that C++ was developed in 1979 (and not even named "C++"
until 1983), I have hard time believing that.

[/QUOTE]

I was kidding. I was trying to make the point that it has
been quite a while and they haven't, as far as I can tell,
developed the idea. They took the lead and still have it,
but it wouldn't be very difficult for another company to
catch up with them. Microsoft, one of the companies I
referred to in the original post, seems to have only made
their word processing software available online because of
competition. They could have done it years ago. It may be
a similar situation here.

I don't know. Comeau offers its online compilation service as
just that, a service. They sell compilers, and doubtlessly, if
you want to use their compiler to develop software, they'd
prefer you pay them for it (and frankly, at the prices they
charge, I can't understand why they don't have a monopoly---it's
the best compiler around, and it's also the cheapest).

More generally, I think there is something in what you say. A
commercial operation, obviously, wouldn't use an on line
compiler, but if Google can offer 3 Gig space for email, the
idea of offering an on line compiler (with projects, etc.,
stored on the server) for hobby programmers and students isn't
so outlandish. It would require some thought (you obviously
can't edit any significant code in a post box of a Web page),
but IMHO, it should be doable.

 

[cplusplus]

DUFUS MORON GO FRENCH KISS YOUR MOM AND COME BACK
OH WAIT YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO FRENCH KISS WELL HERE'S A HINT STICK
YOUR TOUNGE DOWN HER THROAT

 

[coal]

I don't know. Comeau offers its online compilation service as
just that, a service. They sell compilers, and doubtlessly, if
you want to use their compiler to develop software, they'd
prefer you pay them for it (and frankly, at the prices they
charge, I can't understand why they don't have a monopoly---it's
the best compiler around, and it's also the cheapest).

I'm certainly for them being able to make money and they
could have a subscription service if they wanted to do it
that way. My guess is they have a hard time getting the
word out. They don't have the money to advertise like some
other companies. It's fairly cheap, but don't forget open
source compilers.

More generally, I think there is something in what you say. A
commercial operation, obviously, wouldn't use an on line
compiler, but if Google can offer 3 Gig space for email, the
idea of offering an on line compiler (with projects, etc.,
stored on the server) for hobby programmers and students isn't
so outlandish. It would require some thought (you obviously
can't edit any significant code in a post box of a Web page),
but IMHO, it should be doable.

That's interesting... students might be a driving force.
There may be an order --
individual students
grad students in organizations
companies with debt
.....

I think on line compilers will eventually be used by commercial
operations as well. They could be private to a company, but still
be on line.

Brian Wood
Ebenezer Enterprises

 

[coal]

Recently a large company made online versions of their word
processing and related products available. I guess they
were responding to another large company that already has
this sort of functionality online. More recently I read that Quicken
and other money management programs are
now available online.

To update this a little
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article2917414.ece


"We are just a few years away from the end of the shrink-wrapped
software business. By 2010, people will not be buying software,"

That's a quote from the article. I think there will still be
sales of shrink-wrapped software in 2010, but I agree with
the gist of it.


Brian Wood
Ebenezer Enterprises
www.webebenezer.net