Amsterdam-based ACE Associated Computer Experts BV, ACE, bought the Dutch company Parsec Developments in May with a view to incorporating its low-to-medium end Par.C product into Associated Computer’s high-end Expert compiler family. Par.C is a parallel C compiler and run-time system for Inmos Transputers. The Expert compiler family is a modular structured compilation system producing code for different processors including Motorola, Intel, VAX and Norsk Data products. Managing director Martijn de Lange said that the planned incorporation into the ACE product range will confer the prestige of the good and established name of the ACE range on the Par.C product. The modular nature of the compilers makes them largely host- and target-independent. The compilers support the programming languages C, ANSI-C, Fortran 77, Modula-2, Pascal and Cobol and compile down to one common intermediate code. Par.C will be integrated into this group. The flexibility of these compilers makes it possible to target parallel architectures such as Transputer networks. This will make all programming languages from the Expert family accessible for Transputer users. Earlier this year, Associated Computers won exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the Amoeba distributed operating system that exploits parallel processing architectures (CI No 1,705). It also announced a Fortran compiler for Inmos’s new T9000 Transputer, to be integrated with Aachen, Germany-based Parsytec GmbH’s parallel supercomputer, the GC series. Lange says the market for parallel supercomputing is worth about $150m per year and that it is growing steadily in step with current growth in the industry, although not at the 50% rate some have suggested.
