t's not often you see Microsoft adopting a language from the world of Open Source Software (OSS), but IronPython is just such a project and has gathered a growing following among several groups working on Longhorn and associated technologies. IronPython is the creation of Jim Hugunin, now a Microsoft employee, who also created JPython/Jython.

The Python language has been around for almost 15 years and was created by Guido van Rossum who now carries the title of BDFL (Benevolent Dictator For Life). Quoting from the Python website:

"Python was created in the early 1990s by Guido van Rossum at Stichting Mathematisch Centrum (CWI) in the Netherlands as a successor of a language called ABC. Guido is Python's principal author, although it includes many contributions from others. The last version released from CWI was Python 1.2. In 1995, Guido continued his work on Python at the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) in Reston, Virginia where he released several versions of the software. Python 1.6 was the last of the versions released by CNRI. In 2000, Guido and the Python core development team moved to BeOpen.com to form the BeOpen PythonLabs team. Python 2.0 was the first and only release from BeOpen.com."

What You Need

IronPython and version 2.0 of the .NET runtime

Interest in the Python language has grown considerably over the last several years, with a number of high profile projects, such as Chandler, choosing it over Java or some other equally capable language. Tacit support within the Microsoft camp has sprung up in different areas such as the Scripting Guys column on TechNet and lately the Avalon team. Do a search for Python on the Microsoft site, and you'll get lots of hits including a Python Scripts Master Index page.

IronPython started out as an exercise in proving why the .NET platform was not conducive to implementing a dynamic programming language. Like many such efforts the end result was exactly the opposite of the original intent. Not only is the Common Language Runtime (CLR) conducive, it runs Python code even faster than the original C-based version.