Why Develop on Solaris,
AIX and Linux Platforms?

UNIX has been around a very long time, the reason for its continued use and popularity can arguably be accredited to the vast wealth of features it offers. In no particular order, these include in built Virtualization (Solaris Zones, AIX LPars.  Diagnostic tools – trace, top, iostat, netstat or DTrace (a comprehensive dynamic tracing tool for investigating system behaviour, safely on production machines), Performance Networking; it is not widely known but the Microsoft TCP/IP stack is based on UNIX software, and most importantly Scalable File-systems providing virtually limitless storage capacity.

All these features are built on what long-time UNIX OS users have come to expect: rock-solid stability, huge scalability and high performance. Add to that a guaranteed backwards compatibity for AIX and Solaris Developers - especially important because maintenance is usually the largest expense associated with any piece of software. With its backwards compatibility guarantee, software vendors know that (provided they stick to published APIs) software built for AIX or Solaris will run correctly on subsequent versions.   Contrast this with some other operating systems, where incompatible changes to system components -- for example, libraries -- are made without regard to the effect on applications. The net effect is application breakage, resulting in increased maintenance costs and frustration for application vendors and users.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to develop software on Solaris, AIX or Linux is the wealth of professional-grade development tools available for it. Acardia can provide you with software development tools as well as all the hardware you need to build and test your software.

When it comes to UNIX, software developers make Solaris, AIX or Linux their platform of choice because:

• The large number of people using UNIX operating systems
• The availability of Linux as an open-source operating system, the source code for which is available
• The wealth of advanced technological features the UNIX platform has, including DTrace, Solaris Zones, AIX LPars, improved IP stack, and Advanced File-Systems
• The fact that UNIX is a multiplatform OS – C / C++ Code will compile on Solaris, AIX or Linux
• IBM’s and Oracle’s commitment to long-term backwards compatibility for both Solaris and AIX, which protects the end users' investment in their software
• The professional-quality development tools, some of which are available for no charge

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