Python, a popular scripting language, is available for .NET in a beta release under Microsoft's Shared Source Licensing Program. The version, code-named IronPython, was initially created by Jim Hugunin, an independent developer whom Microsoft subsequently hired in 2004 to continue developing the language. Python combines many object-oriented capabilities of languages, such as C# and VB.NET, with the looser restrictions of scripting languages, such as VBScript and JavaScript. Producing a .NET implementation ensures that the increasingly popular programming language works with other Microsoft products, such as ASP.NET, and interoperates with other .NET languages, particularly VB.NET and C#.

Although Microsoft has not announced plans to fully integrate IronPython into its Visual Studio development environment, developers can use the Visual Studio debugger to step through code written in IronPython.

The beta release comes shortly after the Dec. 2005 announcement by ActiveState that it was ending development of its own set of scripting language tools for Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. Although ActiveState's stated reason for stopping development of its Visual Python and other products was the "disproportionately large development effort required to keep them in sync with Visual Studio," it seems likely that the entry of Microsoft into the market for Python tools was also a factor.

Beta 2 of IronPython is available for download at www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=910F423F-BBD2-4E52-BAB6-AA21592EDC3B.

Information on Shared Source Licensing for IronPython can be found at www.microsoft.com/resources/sharedsource/Licensing/nPython.mspx.

Jim Hugunin, the creator of IronPython, maintains a blog at blogs.msdn.com/hugunin/.