Is Microsoft Taking Dynamic Languages Seriously?

Specifically IronPython and IronRuby.

Consider this …

• IronPython got underway in July of 2004. Five years later it appears IronPython is still not a candidate to be a first class language in the .NET framework and tools. You can vote on this issue.
• Microsoft first released IronRuby at Mix in 2007. Nearly three years later it appears IronRuby is still not a candidate to be a first class language in the .NET framework and tools. You can vote on this issue.

A first class language is deployed when the full .NET framework is installed. It’s as easy to find as csc.exe. It’s not a language you have to ask the IT department to install separately. It’s not a language that requires you to jump out of Visual Studio to edit or run.

Most of all, a first class language doesn’t require justification to higher powers. A first class language is pre-certified and stamped with a seal of approval. It’s as easy to use in the locked-down big corporate setting as the company paper shredder.

The DLR and the PDC

I was depressed when I read the session list from Microsoft’s recent Professional Developers Conference. If you browse the session list you’ll find hundreds of sessions covering cloud computing, Sharepoint, Silverlight, SQL Server, and modeling. There are a handful of sessions covering concurrency, and a few dedicated to C++.

There is exactly one session featuring the Dynamic Language Runtime in a significant fashion. The title is Using Dynamic Languages to Build Scriptable Applications. You can learn how to augment an existing application after you’ve done all the real work in a first class language.

Perhaps Microsoft is just hedging their bets, but it’s clear that that dynamic languages aren’t high on the priority list. Maybe they’ll be first class citizens one day, but many developers are tired of waiting.

P.S. Is Managed JScript dead?