Reposted without permission from http://www.ecma.ch/ecma1/NEWS/NEWS.HTM: ===cut=== Two new projects for ECMA TC39 Microsoft, an Ordinary Member of ECMA, has proposed some new projects for standardization in ECMA. Negotiations with other sponsors from within ECMA and from outside are going on. The outline of these projects reads as follows: The plan is to submit draft specifications in two areas: (1) a specification for a new programming language called "C#" (pronounced "C sharp"); (2) specifications for a common language infrastructure (CLI) for use by C# that could also be used by ECMAScript and other languages. 1. C# Programming Language. C# is a simple, modern, object oriented, and type-safe programming language derived from C and C++. C# is firmly planted in the C and C++ family tree of languages, and will immediately be familiar to C and C++ programmers. C# is designed to bring rapid development to the C++ programmer without sacrificing the power and control that have been a hallmark of C and C++. A preliminary version of the C# specification can be downloaded from a link found on http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/nextgen. 2. Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) This single, rich language infrastructure supports C# and (optionally) ECMAScript and other modern languages. The CLI effort would include specification of the following: * A common set of datatypes used across all supported programming languages * A standard XML-based declarative syntax for specifying objects, methods, and datatypes * A small set of base classes that provide language support and basic application portability * A common intermediate language format for code download and execution, along with metadata that describes the requirements and capabilities of the code * A common code verification and execution model with capability limitations depending on context
