.net as language target

[Scott Moore]

I am considering targeting .net with my existing compiler.
I am new to both jvm and .net targets. I have no preference.
This is not designed to start an argument, I would just like
the information. I may decide to use either one, or both.

Heres the question:

With jvm it is very clear what I get for the effort of targeting
the jvm for my compiler output. You can run jvm programs off
a web page, and even if you don't use that mode, there are many
machines that run jvm. There are jvm applications that run, in
place, on a web page *everywhere*.

With .net, after an extensive search, I have yet to find a
single example using a .net application (using, I gather, asp.net).
Ie., although the .net documentation appears to describe the
ability to do so, nobody appears to be supporting it. Are there
online, running in web page, .net applications I can go see on
the web ?

Also, it is clear that .net can be easily JITed on a Windows
machine. However, I already have a compiler back end for Windows, so
it is hardly worth the work to do so. What other machines have a
JIT for .net available ?

I am currently using the .net SDK and the book ".NET IL Assembler"
for reference on this subject.

Thank you.

 

[Cor]

Hi Scott,

I will try to explain something about Net with the web and only for
webpages.

With Net you have a server part and a client part.

The "only" thing the serverpart does is creating aspx pages with which you
communicatie with the client. ASPX pages are completly DHTML and look like
every other pages can look not made with Net.

You even can delete the signature that it is .NET, although someone who
knows what is the Net, does recognise it direct.

On the client side you can choose as far as I know to let the Net use
Javascript or VBscript.
(I do not believe that there will be much who take VB.script although it has
on some parts some advantages).

The javascript that is created by Net in a page is very complex. So it react
direct on a button push and sends all underlaying information back to the
Server. There you can catch what the user did and take your action on that
and then the page is again post back to the client.

About the SDK, there are two versions on the server side, with a compiled
DLL, done with a compiler or mostly with Visual.Studio.Net. The last product
makes it very easy to do the serverside programming with a webpage. Because
that it is compiled code it is of course much faster on the serverside than
when you let the HTML pages create with code which is compiled just in time.

I hope this helps a little bit?

Cor

 

[Jay B. Harlow [MVP - Outlook]]

Scott,

There are jvm applications that run, in
place, on a web page *everywhere*.

Just as you can run a Java Applet from a web page, when the JVM is installed
on the client. You can run a .NET "Windows control" from a web page, when
the .NET framework is installed on the client.

As Cor suggested, server side ASP.NET & JSP pages run on the server, only
require the respective runtimes on the server.

I don't have a specific sample handy on running a .NET "Windows control"
from a web page...

Also, it is clear that .net can be easily JITed on a Windows
machine. However, I already have a compiler back end for Windows, so
it is hardly worth the work to do so.

You target the .NET CLR more to leverage the CLR & the Framework, not to run
"windows" programs. This is why Microsoft has both the unmanaged C++
compiler & the managed C++ compiler. So you can create Win32 programs
directly with no .NET support or you can create C++ .NET programs.

If your compiler supported creating managed code, you could run in the CLR &
use the Framework (you would then not need your own library of routines).

What other machines have a
JIT for .net available ?

www.go-mono.com & Microsoft's "Rotor" source are two of the most popular
alternative runtimes.

There are numerous samples and documentation on targeting your compiler for
..NET in:

\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003\SDK\v1.1\Tool Developers
Guide

Hope this helps
Jay