The Adaptive Communication Environment (ACE) is an open source software framework used for network programming.
It provides a set of object-oriented C++ classes designed to help address the inherent complexities and challenges in network programming by preventing common errors.
[2] ACE was initially developed by Douglas C. Schmidt during his graduate work at the University of California, Irvine.
It provides common data types and methods[4] to access the powerful but complex features of modern operating systems.
Some of the successful projects that have used ACE includes: Motorola Iridium satellites, Boeing Wedgetail's Australian airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) system, and others.