Author: JT Smith
today at Microsoft Tech Ed 2001, announced the first
release of Visual Perl, Visual Python and Visual XSLT for Beta 2 of Microsoft Visual
Studio.NET. These solutions allow developers to edit,
debug and run programs written in Perl, Python and XSLT in the Visual Studio.NET IDE.
“Our participation in the Visual Studio Integration Program enables us
to bring the advanced editing and testing environment of Visual Studio
.NET to our customers,? said Dick Hardt, Founder & CEO, ActiveState. ?A
chief benefit of this integration for customers is in productivity
advances. For example, moving from a text editor to a visual
environment in programming is akin to the advances of moving from
Notepad to Word in word processing.?
Features:
- Editor – code completion, syntax-based colorizing, syntax error
detection, language-aware auto-indenting, code folding, and keyword tips - Integrated online help – connect to ASPN and search and retrieve
online resources - Graphical debugger – manage breakpoints, control flow, view
variables, lists, and complex objects, and for Perl debug remote
processes - Project manager – manage groups or related files, data files,
and for XSLT remote URL handling
Visual Perl also includes ActiveState?s unique regular expression
debugger, which enables programmers to easily step through Perl regular
expressions one step at a time. The debugger helps determine where and
why regular expression matches fail and provides a user interface with
easy to understand descriptions for generating regular expression
syntax.
Visual XSLT also contains ActiveState?s one-of-a-kind XSLT debugger,
which synchronizes input and code while debugging in real time. It also
displays XSLT variables and parameters and allows programmers to enter
arbitrary Xpath expressions in the debugger Watch window while
debugging.
?It?s great to have full development support for Perl within Visual
Studio. Visual Perl?s features such as the colorized editor and code
completion have helped me develop code more quickly,? said Visual Perl
beta tester Chuck Wagner, Software Developer, Data Stable Consulting.
?I?m particularly looking forward to trying out the new regular
expression debugger — so that I can step through a regular expression
while it is being matched — it?s a process that until now I?ve found
frustrating to say the least.?
?It?s been exciting working with ActiveState on bringing these open
source programming languages to Visual Studio.NET,? said Tom Button,
vice president of Developer Tools at Microsoft Corp. ?This really fits
our mission of enabling developers to rapidly create Web applications
using their language of choice.?
?We?ve received tremendous feedback from beta-testers, who?ve found the
advanced editing and debugging features in Visual Studio.NET in
combination with Perl, Python and XSLT to be a powerful tool. In
particular, they like being able to interactively test the trickier
parts of programs with the Regex and XPath debuggers, before running the
entire program. This has resulted in significant productivity gains,?
said Eric Promislow, Visual Project Lead, ActiveState.
Visual Perl is available with ASPN Perl at $495. The download is accessible at
http://ASPN.ActiveState.com/ASPN/Perl. Visual Python and
Visual XSLT are currently available in beta and can be freely downloaded
from www.ActiveState.com/ASPN.
About ActiveState:
ActiveState is the leading provider of open source based programming
products and services for cross-platform development. ActiveState’s key
technologies are Perl, the Internet’s most popular programming language;
Python and Tcl, user-friendly scripting languages; PHP, the dynamic Web
programming language; and XSLT, the XML transformation language. The
ActiveState Programmer Network (ASPN) offers these technologies with the
latest information and productivity tools, empowering programmers with
the freedom to work with their preferred language and development
environment.
Media/Analyst Contact:
Lori Pike
Director Corporate Communications,
ActiveState
phone 604.484.6417 / cell 604.808.6655
© ActiveState Corporation 2001.
ActiveState, ASPN, Visual Perl, Visual Python and Visual XSLT are
trademarks of ActiveState Corp. All other company names herein may be
trademarks of their respective owners.
