Microsoft's C# (Sharp) & .NET -- A Heads Up

[rgparker at west.net.bbs]

Mark,

Do you envision non-MS affiliated groups writing IL-to-native compilers
for other (non-Windows) operating systems?

In other words, will this IL stay as a Windows-only sort of deal?

Also, could Java be compiled to IL if someone wanted to write a compiler
for it?

In news:<8kld9h$489$1 at nnrp1.deja.com>, MarkH at ActiveState.com says...
> In article <Epxa5.13351$Tb7.89807 at news-server.bigpond.net.au>,
>   "Neil Hodgson" <neilh at scintilla.org> wrote:
> >    Now that Microsoft have revealed their Intermediate Language (IL)
> >    virtual machine, are we going to see a version of Python that
> >    compiles directly to IL? Or will Python byte codes still be
> >    interpreted by C code?
>
> Directly to IL - although there is still a runtime that handles some of
> the Python semantics.
>
> This new compiler could be compared, conceptually, with JPython - it is
> a completely new implementation of Python.  It has a compiler that
> generates native Windows .DLL/.EXE files.  It uses a runtime that
> consists of a few thousand lines of C# (C-Sharp) code.  The Python
> programs can be debugged at the source level with Visual Studio 7, as
> well as stand-alone debuggers for this environment.  Python can sub-
> class VB or C# classes, and vice-versa.
>
> Unfortunately, there will not be a public release of their SDK for a
> couple of months - so the only people able to use this compiler are
> people who attended the PDC, and hence have the pre-beta SDK on their
> conference CDs.
>
> The compiler is looking pretty reasonable.  pystone.py (amongst others,
> of course) compiles and runs.
>
> However, this should be quite exciting for the Python community.  The
> general feel of the conference here is that the MS .NET technology is
> exciting and a good thing.  I predict that the Windows community will
> embrace this technology, and having Python be a first-class citizen is a
> good thing!  It _is_ a radical change.
>
> Future work on this compiler will be under the ActiveState banner.
> However, the compiler and the runtime are all open source.  The
> compiler is written in CPython, and uses win32com to get at the
> Reflection::Emit APIs provided by .NET.  All the existing work has been
> done mainly by me, with some code and advice from Greg Stein.  Now the
> NDA is lifted, I hope (some of) the Python community will get behind
> this, and take advantage of the open-sourceness of the compiler and
> runtime, and help us turn this into an excellent language for this
> environment.
>
> All good stuff (IMO, of course)
>
> None of this is speaking for ActiveState - just my personal opinion.
>
> Mark (still at the PDC!)
>
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.
>