Should Microsoft develop programming languages? Or interpreters and compilers? Should they continue to develop C# (and F#)? Should they continue to develop the C# compiler?
A world in which Microsoft does not develop programming languages would indeed be different. Microsoft's history is full of programming languages and implementations. They started with an interpreter for BASIC. They quickly followed that with a Macro-assembler, a FORTRAN compiler, a COBOL compiler, and even a BASIC compiler (to compete with Digital Research's CBASIC compiler.) When the C programming language became popular, Microsoft acquired a C compiler and, after much rework over the years, expanded it into the Visual Studio we know today. (Some of Microsoft's offerings were products purchased from other sources, but once in the Microsoft fold they received a lot of changes.)
The compilers, interpreters, editors, and debuggers have all served Microsoft well. But Microsoft treated them as tools of its empire, supporting them and enhancing them when such support and enhancements grew Microsoft, and discarding them when they did not aid Microsoft. Examples of discontinued languages include their Pascal compiler, Visual Basic, and the short-lived Visual J#.
Today, Microsoft supports C#, F#, and VB.NET.
I've been thinking about these languages. Microsoft created C# during their "empire" phase, when Microsoft tried to provide everything for everyone. They had to compete with Java, and C# was their entry. VB.NET was necessary to offer a path from Visual Basic into .NET. F# is the most recent addition, an expedition into functional programming.
All of these languages provided a path that lead into (but not out of) the Microsoft world. To use Visual Basic, you had to run Windows. To program in C#, you had to run Windows.
Today, Microsoft is agnostic about operating systems, and languages. Azure supports Windows and Linux. Visual Studio works with PHP, JavaScript, Python, and Ruby, among others. Microsoft has opened the C# compiler and .NET framework to non-Microsoft platforms.
Microsoft is no longer using programming languages as a means to drive people to Windows.
That is a significant change. A consequence of that change is a reduction in the importance of programming languages. It may make sense for Microsoft to let other people develop programming languages. Perhaps Microsoft's best strategy is to provide a superior environment for programming and the development of languages.
Microsoft is not the first company to make this transition. IBM did the same with its languages. FORTRAN, PL/I, APL, SQL, and RPG were all invented by IBM and proprietary, usable only on IBM equipment. Today, IBM provides services and doesn't need private programming languages to sell hardware.
Microsoft cannot simply drop C#. What would make sense would be a gradual, planned, transfer to another organization. Look for actions that continue in the direction of open source for C# and .NET.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment