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0 pointstluyben213y ago0 comments

You can find free compilers for (almost) everything on every OS. What do you mean with Linux/BSD land here?

And bringing bread home by making compilers; can you point out a commercial compiler that 'brings bread home' besides the Visual Studio compilers (which, actually, do not bring that bread; you can download the compilers for free)? I'm curious as I thought paid compilers currently are niche and don't make the companies selling them enough to actually pay more than maybe 1 person working on it full time, if that. Maybe Intel is making enough of pure compilers to actually call it a business?

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pjmlp13y ago

I mean that having compilers with 100% full support is something that only happens in open source land.

All commercial UNIX vendors sell their compilers. Even in Solaris case, the EULA does not allow you to sell software done with their "free" compiler.

Intel compilers are not free for Mac OS X and Windows.

All the SDKs for game development from the console owners are not free.

The express editions of Visual Studio compilers are limited in which optimizations they offer, libraries and supported processor targets.

The compilers from Portland group for HPC.

The compilers from CodePlay for the game industry.

Even the compilers from Apple can be said that they are not free, after all you're paying indirectly for them when you buy a Mac Developer's license.

wglb13y ago

The xcode download that I use to build lots of stuff cost $0.

pjmlp13y ago

And how much did you pay for your Mac when compared with a PC with the same technical specifications?

Plus, last time I checked you need to pay to be able to have proper access to all developer information, https://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/.

Please read properly what I wrote, "paying indirectly for them", do you know what _indirectly_ means?

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pmjordan13y ago

The Portland Group's (PGI) main business seems to be HPC compilers.

CodePlay make compilers for game developers.

There are companies that have made a business out of selling fully-integrated build & debug toolchains for embedded devices. There is usually some amount of customisation required for each type of device, and there's a lot of value in not having to do this yourself.

So yes, there are still companies making compilers as their main, paid product, but they tend to target specialised markets.

tluyben2OP13y ago

Thanks! I did see some AAA game compilers and tools before indeed. But I remember that being very niche and tight knit, small teams. Which is bringing home the bacon, but not compared to making more high level game tools (Unity for instance); unless you are an AAA game dev with very specific needs, you wouldn't bother even looking for those tools because they are so commodity, while high level tools like Unity and Unreal (with all it's add-ons) are not commodity and thus making millions of $.

But yes, you are right; embedded, HPC and gaming are good examples. Thanks for pointing that out.

jasomill13y ago

In 2011, 3% of Intel's revenue came from "software and services", up from 1% in 2010 [1]. They also acquired McAfee in late 2010. So it's probably safe to assume that compilers generate somewhat less than 1% of Intel's revenue, perhaps significantly less. But even if only 1% of that pre-McAfee 1% figure is compilers, that's still over $5 million (over $50 billion * .01 * .01), so I suspect Intel's compiler business profitably employs a number of full-time developers.

Microsoft's combined "servers and tools" operating segment represented nearly a quarter of its revenue and over 20% of its operating income last quarter [2], and while it's not immediately clear how much of this comes from the "tools" portion, I don't imagine it's anywhere near zero.

[1] http://www.microsoft.com/investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Fina... [2] http://www.intc.com/annuals.cfm

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pjmlp13y ago

I mean that having compilers with 100% full support is something that only happens in open source land.

All commercial UNIX vendors sell their compilers. Even in Solaris case, the EULA does not allow you to sell software done with their "free" compiler.

Intel compilers are not free for Mac OS X and Windows.

All the SDKs for game development from the console owners are not free.

The express editions of Visual Studio compilers are limited in which optimizations they offer, libraries and supported processor targets.

The compilers from Portland group for HPC.

The compilers from CodePlay for the game industry.

Even the compilers from Apple can be said that they are not free, after all you're paying indirectly for them when you buy a Mac Developer's license.

wglb13y ago

The xcode download that I use to build lots of stuff cost $0.

pjmlp13y ago

And how much did you pay for your Mac when compared with a PC with the same technical specifications?

Plus, last time I checked you need to pay to be able to have proper access to all developer information, https://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/.

Please read properly what I wrote, "paying indirectly for them", do you know what _indirectly_ means?

2 more replies

pmjordan13y ago

The Portland Group's (PGI) main business seems to be HPC compilers.

CodePlay make compilers for game developers.

So yes, there are still companies making compilers as their main, paid product, but they tend to target specialised markets.

tluyben2OP13y ago

But yes, you are right; embedded, HPC and gaming are good examples. Thanks for pointing that out.

jasomill13y ago

[1] http://www.microsoft.com/investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Fina... [2] http://www.intc.com/annuals.cfm

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse