>> If Adacore had published a full featured free compiler for students/universities by the time Ada 95 standard was published, I am sure that Ada could have occupied the space C++ takes today.
Agreed. If there had been more free (gratis) or low-cost Ada compilers at that time Ada would be far less niche than it is today.
There is increased interest in Ada today thanks to Rust. There is also interplay between Rust and Ada/SPARK features with Rust getting some Ada features and SPARK getting some Rust features.
Ferrous Systems is working with AdaCore on the Ferrocene Language Specification to formally document the Rust subset that Ferrocene will use:
Agreed. If there had been more free (gratis) or low-cost Ada compilers at that time Ada would be far less niche than it is today.
There is increased interest in Ada today thanks to Rust. There is also interplay between Rust and Ada/SPARK features with Rust getting some Ada features and SPARK getting some Rust features.
Ferrous Systems is working with AdaCore on the Ferrocene Language Specification to formally document the Rust subset that Ferrocene will use:
https://ferrous-systems.com/ferrocene/
https://ferrous-systems.com/blog/ferrocene-language-specific...
It is exciting to see Rust mature so it can one day be used in safety-critical work.