Microsoft IronPython?

[Nainto]

I came across this link today. http://tinyurl.com/9c7ta It seems
Microsoft is getting involved with Python. What do you think of it? Is
it any good? Anything to worry about?
--
Zach

[David Wahler]

Nainto wrote:

I came across this link today. http://tinyurl.com/9c7ta It seems
Microsoft is getting involved with Python. What do you think of it? Is
it any good? Anything to worry about?
--
Zach

See http://www.ironpython.com/ -- apparently this happened over a year
ago.

-- David

[Nainto]

The Cnet article is from today.

[Peter Hansen]

Nainto wrote:

The Cnet article is from today.

Maybe when David said it happened over a year ago, he was obliquely
suggesting that your questions might have been asked before (and as I
recall they were) and that a search of the archives would probably find
answers to your question.

-Peter

[Luis M. González]

Ironpython has been in development from awhile, and now it's in beta
version 1.0.
Is it good to have Python running on every existing platform out there?
Of course it is.

Is it good to have Python running on Java and .NET?
Sure, why not? One of the good things about Python is that it runs
everywhere, thus making your code more portable and usable.
Many people program for a living and often they are forced to work with
certain technologies that are beyond their preference.
If your company uses Microsoft software, wouldn't you like being able
to run Python on it?
Personally, I'd like to see Python going everywhere. I want it to be
ubiquitous.
This way there will be no excusses for rejecting it (by your bos, your
company, your colleagues..).

Will Microsoft hurt Python?
How? If sometime in the future, MS decides to modify the language by
creating something different, you'll have the choice to decide whether
you like it or not.
Nobody will steal Python, it is free and it will always be.
What's more, if you decide that you want to use Python on .Net and you
don't ike the official Microsoft release, you can fork it (the code is
freely available) and you can call it "MyGroovyNewLan guage" if you
want.

Right now there are other languages based and inspired in Python (Boo
for example) that run on .Net and Mono, and they are useful and have an
enthusiast comunity behind them. It's good to have many choices and
it's good to be free to choose.
Although it's also very good to have a main implementation, lead by its
creator, who will always take care that there will be a pure and
legitimate Python for those who like it just the way it is.

Luis

[Ray]

Hi Luis,

IronPython as it is now is already slightly different from CPython
isn't it? Because it has to capture features of CLR languages that are
not in Python (such as using generic containers).

I wonder how this will branch further in the future--will CPython
expand to follow IP, or will they keep diverging further and further.

Still I'm very excited about IP--it's the best thing to happen in a
long while, especially with Jython moving so slow these days...

Ray

Luis M. González wrote:

Ironpython has been in development from awhile, and now it's in beta
version 1.0.
Is it good to have Python running on every existing platform out there?
Of course it is.
Luis

<snip>

[Luis M. González]

> IronPython as it is now is already slightly different from CPython

isn't it? Because it has to capture features of CLR languages that are
not in Python (such as using generic containers).

Hmm... I'm not sure what you mean by "capture features of CLR".
I think Ironpython is a faithful implementation of python but, of
course, it's aimed at allowing programmers to take advantage of the
framework, it's classes and components.
If not, there would be no reason to port Python to .Net.
Don't you think?

[Ray]

Luis M. González wrote:

IronPython as it is now is already slightly different from CPython
isn't it? Because it has to capture features of CLR languages that are
not in Python (such as using generic containers).

Hmm... I'm not sure what you mean by "capture features of CLR".
I think Ironpython is a faithful implementation of python but, of
course, it's aimed at allowing programmers to take advantage of the
framework, it's classes and components.
If not, there would be no reason to port Python to .Net.
Don't you think?

Oh, yeah, that's undoubtedly true. What I was referring to were things
such as using [] for generic, that doesn't exist in current CPython
does it?

Regardless, I think it doesn't matter much because once you use .NET
libraries you are kinda tied to IronPython anyway--but if Python as a
language can be picked up by a broader audience due to IP I'm very
happy :)

[Kay Schluehr]

Luis M. González wrote:

Is it good to have Python running on Java and .NET?
Sure, why not?

At least for Jython we already know from the Jython homepage that it is
the great hope of the Java platform to survive in future and far
beyond. With a comparable fate dotNET and Microsoft survive till the
end of time only because IP needs them. Is that what the Python
community really wants?

Kay

[Ray]

Kay Schluehr wrote:

At least for Jython we already know from the Jython homepage that it is
the great hope of the Java platform to survive in future and far
beyond.

Yeah except that it's coming on so slow... we were doing some scripting
for our Java app and Groovy won because Jython has been in alpha for
YEARS :(