I am looking to build a new website which will require a sql server backend and silverlight front end. I would also like to take advantage of the MVC framework. I currently code in C#, but am looking to learn a new type of language on this project. I've been reading up on F#, IronRuby and IronPython. IronPython seems to catch my eye the most, although I'm not completely closed to IronRuby. F# as I understand it is still more of a research language so I'm a bit wary of writing production code using it – IronPython and IronRuby have also pre-existed for several years whereas F# is completely new. My reasons for picking one of these three languages are that they are all functional and run on the DLR.
A few questions:
1) Will IronPython work well with Silverlight and MVC? If you have used IronPython in this combination I am very interested in hearing your thoughts.
2) How well does IronPython integrate into Visual Studio? I'm not completely against using some other editor… maybe Notepad++ or whatever, but since VS is really nice I would like to use it if i can.
3) How well does IronPython work with existing ASP.NET (and silverlight maybe?) server controls? I've run through some tutorials on wiring up winforms control events with IronPython – is it the same for ASP.NET controls?
Best Answer
As a partial answer to question 1, there was this question asked on StackOverflow:
IronPython on ASP.NET MVC (StackOverflow)
Scott Hanselman had some useful links to using IronPython in a bunch of different scenarios from last year (so it may be a bit out of date):
IronPython and the DLR march on (Scott Hanselman)
In answer to question 2, you can download both integrated and isolated mode installers for Visual Studio 2008 from here:
IronPython Studio 1.0 (CodePlex)
I've been using it on and off for a while and it seems to work just fine.
And finally, in answer to question 3, you might want to take a look at this series of articles on:
Beginning IronPython (ASP.NET IronPython Resource)