Watcom
Encyclopedia
Watcom International Corporation was founded in 1981 by three former employees of the Computer Systems Group (Fred Crigger, Ian McPhee, and Jack Schueler) at the University of Waterloo
, in Waterloo
, Ontario
, Canada
. Watcom produced a variety of tools, including the well-known Watcom C compiler
introduced in 1988.
. In 1979 the system was ported to VM/CMS running on the IBM 370, 3030, and 4300 computers and an agreement was reached with IBM to market the compiler. Between 1980 and 1983 updated versions were released including ports to the MVS/TSO
and VM/CMS. In addition to Waterloo BASIC some of the other early products included WATCOM APL, WATCOM GKS
, WATCOM COBOL
, WATCOM FORTRAN
(WATFIV and WATFOR-77), WATCOM Pascal
and the Waterloo 6809 Assembler. These were the basis and provided with the Commodore SuperPET
.
In the mid 1980s Watcom developed compilers for the Unisys ICON
computers running the QNX
operating system. The Watcom C/C++ compiler with QNX developed a market for embedded applications.
In 1988, Watcom released their first C compiler for the IBM PC platform (and compatibles). It was released with a version number of 6 at a time when the latest version numbers of Borland's and Microsofts C Compilers was version 5. These version numbers signified nothing and were used for marketing purposes. The compiler could create tighter and faster code than its competition.
In 1992, Watcom began a move into the client-server arena with the introduction of Watcom SQL
, a SQL
database server product. Being a very small company (about 8 developers) they managed to produce high quality software, famous among software developers. Watcom SQL is still in production, now under the name Sybase SQL Anywhere.
In 1993, the VX-REXX
system was released.
Watcom was acquired by Powersoft in 1994, and Powersoft merged with Sybase
in 1995. In May 2000, Sybase spun off their mobile and embedded computing division into its own company, Sybase iAnywhere (formerly iAnywhere Solutions Inc.). Sybase tried to re-target the Watcom compiler into a visual RAD
tool, Optima++, but the product failed. In 2003, the Watcom C/C++ and Fortran compilers were released as an open source
project under a new name, Open Watcom.
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
, in Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Watcom produced a variety of tools, including the well-known Watcom C compiler
Watcom C compiler
The Watcom C/C++ compiler is a compiler for the computer programming languages C and C++ that produces executable programs for several platforms and operating systems. The code it produces for MS-DOS executes very fast. It was one of the first compilers to support the Intel 80386 "protected mode"...
introduced in 1988.
History
Waterloo BASIC programming language was one of the earliest Watcom products and predates the existence of the company. During 1978 to 1979 Waterloo BASIC was developed targeting the IBM Series/1IBM Series/1
The IBM Series/1 computer is a 16-bit minicomputer, introduced in 1976, that in many respects competed with other minicomputers of the time, such as the PDP-11 from Digital Equipment Corporation and similar offerings from Data General and HP...
. In 1979 the system was ported to VM/CMS running on the IBM 370, 3030, and 4300 computers and an agreement was reached with IBM to market the compiler. Between 1980 and 1983 updated versions were released including ports to the MVS/TSO
Time Sharing Option
In computing, Time Sharing Option is an interactive time-sharing environment for IBM mainframe operating systems, including OS/360 MVT, OS/VS2 , MVS, OS/390, and z/OS.- Overview :TSO fulfills a similar purpose to Unix login sessions...
and VM/CMS. In addition to Waterloo BASIC some of the other early products included WATCOM APL, WATCOM GKS
Graphical Kernel System
The Graphical Kernel System was the first ISO standard for low-level computer graphics, introduced in 1977. GKS provides a set of drawing features for two-dimensional vector graphics suitable for charting and similar duties...
, WATCOM COBOL
COBOL
COBOL is one of the oldest programming languages. Its name is an acronym for COmmon Business-Oriented Language, defining its primary domain in business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments....
, WATCOM FORTRAN
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
(WATFIV and WATFOR-77), WATCOM Pascal
Pascal (programming language)
Pascal is an influential imperative and procedural programming language, designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a small and efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring.A derivative known as Object Pascal...
and the Waterloo 6809 Assembler. These were the basis and provided with the Commodore SuperPET
Commodore PET
The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
.
In the mid 1980s Watcom developed compilers for the Unisys ICON
Unisys ICON
The ICON was a computer built specifically for use in schools, to fill a standard created by the Ontario Ministry of Education. They were widely used, mostly in high schools in the mid- to late 1980s, but disappeared after that time with the widespread introduction of PCs and Apple Macintoshes...
computers running the QNX
QNX
QNX is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market. The product was originally developed by Canadian company, QNX Software Systems, which was later acquired by Canadian BlackBerry-producer Research In Motion.-Description:As a microkernel-based...
operating system. The Watcom C/C++ compiler with QNX developed a market for embedded applications.
In 1988, Watcom released their first C compiler for the IBM PC platform (and compatibles). It was released with a version number of 6 at a time when the latest version numbers of Borland's and Microsofts C Compilers was version 5. These version numbers signified nothing and were used for marketing purposes. The compiler could create tighter and faster code than its competition.
In 1992, Watcom began a move into the client-server arena with the introduction of Watcom SQL
Watcom SQL
Watcom SQL was a relational database for PC platforms released by Watcom in 1992. It was renamed to SQL Anywhere Studio after Watcom joined Powersoft which was subsequently acquired by Sybase....
, a SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
database server product. Being a very small company (about 8 developers) they managed to produce high quality software, famous among software developers. Watcom SQL is still in production, now under the name Sybase SQL Anywhere.
In 1993, the VX-REXX
VX-REXX
VX-REXX is a highly-extensible REXX GUI development system for OS/2.Much of the new code in eComStation has been written using VX-REXX.Though REXX is itself a 3GL, the VX-REXX interface allows you to build REXX programs using a combination of 3GL and 4GL techniques; its drag-and-drop interface to...
system was released.
Watcom was acquired by Powersoft in 1994, and Powersoft merged with Sybase
Sybase
Sybase, an SAP company, is an enterprise software and services company offering software to manage, analyze, and mobilize information, using relational databases, analytics and data warehousing solutions and mobile applications development platforms....
in 1995. In May 2000, Sybase spun off their mobile and embedded computing division into its own company, Sybase iAnywhere (formerly iAnywhere Solutions Inc.). Sybase tried to re-target the Watcom compiler into a visual RAD
Rapid application development
Rapid application development is a software development methodology that uses minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. The "planning" of software developed using RAD is interleaved with writing the software itself...
tool, Optima++, but the product failed. In 2003, the Watcom C/C++ and Fortran compilers were released as an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
project under a new name, Open Watcom.