Native BCL

Does anyone think that we'll see a native BCL at BUILD?

-Josh

@JoshRoss:It would be a surprise for sure.  Although I'd rethink c++ if it were.

what i think we'll see is WinRT metadata all over the bcl and various native libraries, making the bcl more accessible to native and native libraries more accessible to managed

i think the lines are going to blur alot between native and managed going forward

there is always something called 'Unmanaged BCL' in Windows since Vista days, just some internal private library of some small team.

the 'Windows Class Library' of 'Redhawk' is also very limited and should be just some internal tool.

so, all you have is those Windows Runtime libraries, just some OS Intergeration libs, not a complete BCL.

Native guys uses CRT + WRL to access them, managed guys will get 'Windows Immersive' framework, a 'Facade' to BCL, plust WinMDs, as the 'Silverlight for Desktop' thing.

@Ion Todirel: My main issue that it is fitting square pegs into round holes.

Whatever the announcements, if they go down this route it is not going to be pretty, easy to use and intuitive. It may well end up being a big announcement, that ten or twenty in a thousand decide they have to use.

There's a switch that makes C++ code managed and slow.

How about a switch that makes C# code native and doesn't change performance in big way except for interop where it would remove some of the interop costs of managed to native. For debug builds you could choose to have this switch off to make debug easier but pay the interop penalty.

Of course there could be other things as well down the road but they would need to be designed in a way that preserves the good stuff about C# like compilation times and debugging while allowing taking advantage of C++ performance related constructs where most useful.

Things which require runtime reflection could be siloed or handled in a way that works also in native.

Maybe there could even be a way to translate a subset of C# code easily into STL based code.

Disclaimer: I haven't really thought about this stuff much just throwing it out (It may well be that the interop costs aren't as big deal as the other factors which differentiate managed/native, language and runtime restrictions and less optimization opportunities etc)

We're like Apple fans, trying to divine the future from leaked scraps, speculation, and wishful thinking. Why can't you wait until Build? It's only a few days away.

I don't believe Microsoft had officially confirmed that there will be a BUILD conference

1 hour ago,Minh wrote

I don't believe Microsoft had officially confirmed that there will be a BUILD conference

right, it's a false-flag operation by Steve Jobs. The "Great Disappointment" of 2011 will be his swansong, and the ensuing chaos amongst Windows developers will lead to Apple's market monopoly on all platforms by 2014.

EDIT: I just realised that Apple's "Core" naming convention for their frameworks may be a pun on "Apple core".

47 minutes ago,W3bbo wrote

I just realised that Apple's "Core" naming convention for their frameworks may be a pun on "Apple core".

So maybe windows needs frameworks ?

@felix9: No, no, no. Apple's have cores and Windows have pains.

-Josh

@Minh: you are right, unfortunately. Only one day to go and the name of the conference is still clearly commented out even on its website.