Published in News

Microsoft pioneers software compiler as a service

by on16 September 2011
microsoft

Project Roslyn nearly out
Microsoft will release a Community Technology Preview of a new type of compiler. 

Code-named Project Roslyn, Redmond claims it could revise what compilers do. Anders Hejlsberg told the Microsoft Build conference that the project was about opening the compiler and making all that information available so the developer can harness all of this knowledge.

Roslyn compiles C3 and Visual Basic with a set of APIs that developers can use to fine-tune their code. It is similar to Miguel de Icaza's Mono Project, in which the information the compiler generates about a program can be reused as a library. Developers could also use the output of such software to do tasks like refactor, or reorganize, their code more easily.

It would be possible to add C# and Visual Basic functionality to programs written in other languages. Developers can also add objects and new variables to a program. Roslyn could convert Visual Basic code to C# code.


Rate this item
(1 Vote)

Read more about: