Scala is a general-purpose programming language designed to express common programming patterns in a concise, elegant, and type-safe way. It smoothly integrates features of object-oriented and functional languages, enabling Java and other programmers to be more productive. Code sizes are typically reduced by a factor of two to three when compared to an equivalent Java application.
Miguel Garcia, part of the Scala group at EPFL, has been striving to make the Scala productivity available to .NET developers too. In a project funded by Microsoft, he has now reached a major milestone in delivering that capability. If you have a Scala program working on the JVM, then for the most part you only need to recompile it with the Scala.Net compiler and it will run there too. The key limitation for the moment is that Scala programs cannot use libraries in .NET that are compiled using CLR generics, such as the .NET collections.
Scala Comes to .NET
Guide to Using Scala on .NET
Scala Homepage
R.NET is an open-source project to bring the R statistical computing language to the .NET Framework. R.NET requires .NET Framework 4 and native DLLs installed with the R environment.
R.NET on CodePlex
R Project for Statistical Computing
Nemerle is an open-source, general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language for the .NET platform. It is as easy to learn and use as C# or VB.NET, but Nemerle is far more powerful. One may start using it as an advanced C# and then — as learning goes on — employ a range of cool features enabling metaprogramming and functional programming. The metaprogramming is based on macros bearing some similarity to Lisp.
Supported paradigms: Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), Functional Programming (FP), Metaprogramming (MP), Component-Oriented Programming (COP), DSL-Oriented Programming (DOP) or Language Oriented Programming (LOP). Type system: static typing, strong typing, inferred, nominal.
Nemerle Home Page
According to Wikipedia, the “brainfuck programming language is an esoteric programming language noted for its extreme minimalism. It is a Turing tarpit, designed to challenge and amuse programmers, and is not suitable for practical use.”
Phil Freeman has created a small, freely redistributable compiler for the BF language in C#. It has been tested with Hello World and a few numerical examples, as well as Frans Fasse’s self-interpreter.
BF .NET Compiler
Microsoft Small Basic is a project that is aimed at making computer programming accessible to beginners. The project comprises a simple programming language that gathers inspiration from the original BASIC programming language; a modern and attractive programming environment; and rich, extensible libraries. Together they make programming fun for kids and adults alike.
Download Small Basic
IronRuby is a Open Source implementation of the Ruby programming language for .NET, heavily relying on Microsoft’s Dynamic Language Runtime.
IronRuby passes approximately 80% of RubySpec, the best test suite Ruby has today. IronRuby is best at language compatibility, passing 95% of those tests, but worse on the standard libraries with a pass-rate of 77%. Overall the pass-rate as gone up approximately 10% since the last release.
Download IronRuby
Vault is a prototype programming language created at Microsoft Research. It’s a safe version of the C programming language, with features to record and enforce usage rules associated with interfaces. The rules control the order in which the interface’s functions may be called and its data accessed.
Download Vault
Now you can write your own compiler for the Microsoft® .NET Framework. There are hundreds of compilers for dozens of languages that target the .NET Framework. The .NET CLR wrangles these languages into the same sandpit to play and interact together peacefully.
In this article, I will walk you through the code for a compiler written in C# (aptly called the "Good for Nothing" compiler), and along the way I will introduce you to the high-level architecture, theory, and .NET Framework APIs that are required to build your own .NET compiler. I will start with a language definition, explore compiler architecture, and then walk you through the code generation subsystem that spits out a .NET assembly. The goal is for you to understand the foundations of compiler development and get a firm, high-level understanding of how languages target the CLR efficiently.
Read more at MSDN Magazine
The Microsoft “Oslo” Language Specification is the authoritative source for “M” grammar and syntax. It contains detailed information about all aspects of the language.
The “Oslo” Modeling Language (commonly referred to as "M") is a language for defining domain models and languages (the latter are often referred to as textual DSLs). "M" was created to allow developers to efficiently capture their intention in a form that is natural to author but also efficient to store and query using off-the-shelf database technology.
Read more at MSDN
