Two critical programming technologies developed by Microsoft for
its broad .net initiative are nearing approval by a leading
international standards body, the software maker confirmed.
The programming language C#, as well as the Common Language Runtime
(CLI), have passed through a working group within the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) and will likely be approved
by January, said John Montgomery, group product manager with
Microsoft's .net developer platform group.
The CLI makes up the basis for Microsoft's Web-based runtime
environment, known as the .net Framework, used to build and deliver
Web-based applications and services to computers as diverse as PDAs
and large servers. C# is a programming language designed for
developing those applications and services, and is seen by some as
a competitor to Sun Microsystems's Java language.
The two Microsoft technologies have already been awarded standards
status by the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA),
in December 2001. Microsoft and its partners in the submission,
Intel and Hewlett-Packard, said at the time that the technology
would next be submitted to the ISO. The two standards groups share
a "fast-track" relationship with each other that gives special
preferences to technology approved by either of the groups.
The CLI and C# technologies have been reviewed by a technical
committee within the ISO, which is made up of nationals from
various member countries.
When the technologies are made standard, developers will be able to
design their own C# compilers, which are used to translate software
code written in various programming languages into C#, or create
implementations of the .net Framework to run on operating systems
other than Windows.
For example, an open source group led by Ximian is using the ECMA
standards to create a version of the .net Framework for Linux and
Unix operating systems, known as Mono, which would allow .net
applications to run on those operating systems. Microsoft has also
created its own implementation of the technology for the FreeBSD
Unix operating system.
HP and Intel are also tinkering with the technology and could
release their own implementations of the .net Framework for their
software and operating systems, Montgomery said. "None of the major
vendors have announced anything yet, but I expect they will."