Microsoft .Net gets support for dynamic languages
Microsoft is likely to announce at the upcoming Mix07 conference in Las Vegas that it will include enhanced support for dynamic programming languages in the .Net framework, according to ZDNet.
A dynamic programming language is characterized by the possibility to make adjustments to the program while running. This includes extensions of the code and objects and not having to declare variables. Where a dynamic language offers support for this by default, this is not easy to do with compiled languages after compilation. Well-known examples of dynamic languages include PHP, Ruby, and Python. Logical languages such as Prolog can also be classified as dynamic programming languages. At the moment there are possibilities for dynamic languages within the .Net framework, such as via the RubyClrproject, but the support still leaves a lot to be desired.
Microsoft would like to make the .Net framework more attractive to programmers who use dynamic languages. Interest in these kinds of languages is increasing, and it is expected that there will be great interest in supporting them within .Net. “Projects like RubyClr come in different flavors, but none of them are complete and there are major differences between the various implementations,” said Dion Almaer, developer and founder of the website Ajaxian.com. It is hoped that communities like Ruby’s will embrace Microsoft’s initiative. JRuby on the Java virtual machine is starting to work better and better. If full support for Ruby were available on the .Net platform, that would be great,” he continues.
Recently, Microsoft has already hired two experts in dynamic programming languages, Jim Hugunin, of IronPython, and John Lam, of RubyClr. Some time ago, Hugunin lifted a corner of the veil regarding his plans. He told that there are libraries on top of the Common Language Runtime will be offered that should realize improved support for dynamic languages. ‘We are not going to develop a dynamic language ourselves, instead we are going to develop code libraries, patterns and draft guidelines for the use of, for example, Ruby within .Net,” said Hugunin.
According to his colleague Lam, a large number of different dynamic languages are basically the same. For example, support for variable length integers is a standard feature of both Python and Ruby. However, these functions will always have to be developed separately for use within the clr. Huninin and Lam’s team hopes that their project, presumably called Dynamic Language Runtime, will draw developers who use dynamic languages toward the .Net framework. A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on the matter for the time being.