[C# and Language] DevLabs Website

Microsoft is working constantly on new incubation projects to extend existing language features and add new ones. Some of the early versions of those new features can be tested on the DevLabs website. When they are considered to be accepted and they have finished their incubation period they are moved to the respective product sections (as it was done for the Reactive Extensions) or are directly integrated into the corresponding products such as Visual C#.

Currently there are the following incubation projects available:

• TC Labs: Solver Foundation (build and solve real optimization models)
• TC Labs: TPL DataFlow (extensions to the .NET 4.0 TPL addressing additional scenarios)
• TC Labs: Dryad (process large volumes of data in many types of applications and enable LINQ on HPC systems)
• TC Labs: Sho (connect IronPython scripts with compiled .NET code for fast and flexible prototyping)
• Doloto (AJAX Download Time Optimizer)
• Code Contracts (extensions to the existing .NET 4.0 version)
• Axum (parallel applications development based on the actor model)

I am personally currently looking into TPL DataFlow, CodeContracts and Axum (since some time already) and will take some time to give you feedback on my experience in the next weeks.

[C# and Language] DevLabs Website

[DevLabs] DevLabs – Microsoft Innovation Projects

Microsoft provides its latest and most inventive ideas to the public in the form of experimental innovation projects on the DevLabs Homepage, that can be found under http://msdn.microsoft.com/devlabs.

The current projects are:

• Axum (Safe and productive parallel programming model for .NET)
• Chess (Finding and Reproducing Heisenbugs in Concurrent Programs)
• Code Contracts (Language-agnostic coding assumptions in .NET)
• Pex (Automated White Box Testing for .NET)
• Microsoft Popfly (Creating and sharing games the easy way)
• Small Basic (Learning a programming language the small and easy way)

Axum is especially interesting since it provides a whole new language approach to parallel programming, while Chess assures that Race conditions are identified and handled correctly.

Code Contracts and Pex aid in delivering robust and highly tested applications since they assure that functions are working as expected.

You may download, install and evaluate the projects to be prepared for their future releases and to participate in their development.

[DevLabs] DevLabs – Microsoft Innovation Projects