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Microsoft's New Programming Language, "M"

Posted by timothy on from the well-it-sounds-delicious dept.

Anthony_Cargile writes "Microsoft announced Friday their new 'M' language, designed especially for building textual domain-specific languages and software models with XAML. Microsoft will also announce Quadrant, for building and viewing models visually, and a repository for storing and combining models using a SQL Server database. While some say the language is simply their 'D' language renamed to a further letter down the alphabet, the language is criticized for lack of a promised cross-platform function because of its ties to MS SQL server, which only runs on Windows."

14 of 334 comments (clear)

  1. lame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    great. another language to learn that is completely useless and no one will use.. And I'm not trolling, this glut of languages is fucking ridiculous. Why not clean up the fucking dotnet framework reference dlls?

    1. Re:lame by LEMONedIScream · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you're not trolling, why post AC? Hell, why I am I responding?

    2. Re:lame by __aamnbm3774 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      which parts need cleaned up?
      they are all pretty consistent across the board.

      and who cares how many languages there are. each one fits a different purpose, whether they are small niches or big sweeping frameworks like Java, does it really bother you that someone, somewhere just went 'yes, this is perfect for me'?

    3. Re:lame by The+Redster! · · Score: 5, Funny

      New Entry-level opportunity for a young, seasoned programmer in a fast-paced environment. Must have:

      2 Years MS-SQL experience
      3 Years in "M", 5 preferred
      Pay negotiable.

    4. Re:lame by Spiked_Three · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There was a lot of new tech in the last couple of .net releases - and unfortunately they are all not in sync at all.

      It's no big deal, anytime that much new comes out in so many areas it takes a while to get them synced, but it's a little chaotic now.

      Specifically; new GUI paradigm (XAML/WPF/Silverlight) and new Data Access (LINQ) - the standard collections don't have INotifyPropertyChange support across the board, SortedCollections are hit and miss, just in general I have found that interfaces needed for one new component is not well implemented for other new components. Like I said, just a bit of growing pains, but it needs attention.

      But I'll agree it has nothing to do with a new language being introduced. I doubt if that will have any affect one way or the other.

      --
      slashdot troll = you make a compelling argument I do not like the implications of.
    5. Re:lame by darkpixel2k · · Score: 5, Insightful

      does it really bother you that someone, somewhere just went 'yes, this is perfect for me'?

      Yeah--because they are probably wrong.
      My company gets all the Microsoft development tools for free.

      With those tools, we build things like Contact management systems, inventory applications, and websites.

      We then turn around and sell them to customers. Customers love the price, but then later realize that they must buy a server to run in on, a copy of Windows, a server to run SQL on, a copy of Microsoft SQL Server, licenses, licenses to allow 'anonymous' internet connections, copies of Microsoft Office 2007 to be able to read the reports it spits out in Word 2007 format, etc...

      ...and the price balloons by thousands of dollars.

      When I develop applications, I don't go looking for the tools that make my life the easiest--I go looking for the tools that will make the end-user's life easier. I develop in languages that work across multiple platforms (except for the abomination that is Java).

      Microsoft tools are awesome if you're a developer. They make pumping out applications and websites easy...unless you want to use non-microsoft technologies...or want to save money...or have one of those stubborn Mac users that won't switch to windows ;)

      In other words, if you want to be locked into using and paying extortionate fees for Microsoft technologies until the end of time, go ahead. Use Visual Studio. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

      --
      There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)
    6. Re:lame by HangingChad · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yeah--because they are probably wrong.

      They are wrong. The last thing we need is another programming language tied to a specific platform.

      We then turn around and sell them to customers. Customers love the price, but then later realize that they must buy a server to run in on, a copy of Windows, a server to run SQL on, a copy of Microsoft SQL Server, licenses, licenses to allow 'anonymous' internet connections, copies of Microsoft Office 2007 to be able to read the reports it spits out in Word 2007 format, etc...

      Exactly why we opted out of the whole Microsoft environment, at least on the server and desktop side of the house. We have a couple Windows clients floating around with the sales staff but those are laptops that came with it.

      Instead of constantly serving the MS machine, we can focus on working. If we need capacity, we just stand it up. New servers go in for the cost of the hardware. I don't consider myself stubborn, just practical. I'd rather focus on work than spend time keeping up the MS all-singing, all-dancing, constantly changing development environment. All the time you spend keeping up on security patches, learning new languages, hunting through the knowledge base, re-writing stuff the new framework broke...it's just nuts. You'd be amazed how productive you can be when you strip all the MS process out of your environment.

      --
      That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  2. That sound that you hear... by zappepcs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    is the sound of a company dieing ... seriously. Yes, there will be those that call this post a troll, but look at the facts. What new product has MS announced that was not met with criticism and derision? What have they done in the last 5 years that improved the personal computing world? World leaders they no longer are. The MS way of doing things is no longer the ONLY way to do things.

    The more they try to launch products which are locked into their own ecosystem, the more people laugh. There are entire countries that have rejected MS products, never mind the users who do so on their own. When entire countries and industries reject your products you have a serious problem. MS has not and is not addressing that problem. They seem to be blindly going down the same road that led to this situation without concern for how they will make money in the next decade.

    It amounts to basically a rotting corpse on the sidewalk with a beggars cup held out. That is just my opinion, and it stems from the lack of anything good or beneficial coming from MS. YMMV

    --
    Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
    1. Re:That sound that you hear... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, to be fair, a lot of organizations and governments that have "rejected" Microsoft products did so only to win a better deal. Some have managed to go with Linux or some other OS, but most have ended up back in Microsoft's hands (albeit with a substantial discount.)

      Ha ... captcha is "pathetic."

    2. Re:That sound that you hear... by mindstormpt · · Score: 5, Insightful

      is the sound of a company dieing ... seriously. Yes, there will be those that call this post a troll, but look at the facts. What new product has MS announced that was not met with criticism and derision? What have they done in the last 5 years that improved the personal computing world?

      Windows Home Server actually received pretty good reviews, and it can be considered an improvement (mainly in the ease of use) on the current (non-geek) home server scene - the non-existing one that is. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I'm looking forward to it (and no, I'm not a fanboy, I actually run 3 servers at home: windows, linux and freebsd).

      Then there's Microsoft Research, which actually comes up with some great stuff, though most of it is not (yet) implementable on a commercial scale.

      So I'll call your post a troll. That's just my opinion too.

  3. Cross platform? Bwahahaha by SL+Baur · · Score: 5, Funny

    From TFA:

    By âoecross platformâ, Microsoft means, âoecross platform as long the other platform authors write a backend for the code, and the SQL database MUST be hosted on MS SQL, a proprietary Microsoft Windows serviceâ.

    Let me clarify that statement. By cross platform we mean that this is portable to both Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Vista.

  4. Re:Not a problem by Tunfisch · · Score: 5, Informative

    That's a different D.

    Microsoft's D is "a new declarative programming language [...] that is expected to serve as a textual modeling language that will let business managers and non-technical stakeholders manipulate digital assets."

    (http://www.campustechnology.com/articles/58675/)

    --
    -- Der Tunfisch.
  5. Re:Cross platform? Bwahahaha by Sentry21 · · Score: 5, Funny

    And not just Windows XP Vista - all three versions of XP and all eight versions of Windows Vista! Truly the broadest, deepest multiplatform support of any programming language available!

  6. Re:Not a problem by klapaucjusz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ahem, no.

    There's more than one programming language called D.

    There's Digital Mars D, which is what you describe. And there's Microsoft D, which is almost, but not quite, completely unlike Digital Mars D.