A few years ago I’ve decided to learn IronPython and so I’ve read a book, wrote some code and blogged about my experience.
I really enjoyed coding in Python and the connection with .NET seemed to be promising – that is until Microsoft pulled the plug on IronPython and its sister language IronRuby.
I felt saddened by the untimely end of Python & .NET and moved on.
Two days ago I powered my podcast player and I thought found a new episode on Hanselminutes – Python Tools for Visual Studio with Dino Viehland.
At first the title seemed very 2009 – since I believed that Microsoft has ditched Python – but decided to listen.
It seems that IronPython is live and kicking – mostly due to community contribution –At the time of this post a new version of IronPython (2.7.4) is making it’s way from RC to stable version.
And Microsoft has been developing it’s Python tooling a.k.a Python Tools for Visual Studio again by using the community as well as a (small) team dedicated (more or less) to the cause of bringing Python development to Visual Studio.
Why has Microsoft been investing in Python you ask – simple:
Azure + Django, that’s right you can use Python (CPython) to create web sites hosted on Azure – although I haven’t tried it myself – the tutorials are already in place.
So it seems that the reports of IronPython death have been greatly exaggerated, or at least premature.
Helper Code 