Announcing Beta Release of GP Ruby.NET Compiler

We are pleased to announce the preliminary Beta release of the Gardens Point
Ruby.NET compiler. Note: this is not just a Ruby/.NET bridge, nor a Ruby
Interpreter implemented on .NET, but a true .NET compiler. The compiler can
be used to statically compile a Ruby source file into a verifiable .NET v2.0
assembly or it can be used to directly execute a Ruby source file (compile,
load and execute). Our implementation is not yet fully complete, but it is
the only Ruby compiler that we know of for either the .NET or JVM platforms
that is able to pass all 871 tests in the samples/test.rb installation test
suite of Ruby 1.8.2. 

Complete source code of our system can be downloaded from:
http://plas.fit.qut.edu.au/Ruby.NET

Please note, that we have so far made no attempt to optimize the performance
of our system or to provide any support for interoperability with .NET
programs written in other languages. We have chosen instead to initially
focus on the challenging task of achieving complete semantic compatibility
with the standard Ruby interpreter. Once this is achieved we will move on to
those other challenges. 

To achieve full semantic compatibility, many sections of our runtime library
implementation mirrors the structure of the Ruby 1.8.2 interpreter code. We
thank Matz and his colleagues for making their source code available under
such a liberal license that enables works such as ours. We similarly, make
our system freely available under a similarly liberal open-source license. 

We are seeking keen Ruby and .NET programmers to assist with further testing
and development (see our web site for further details). 

We look forward to your feedback ... 

Cheers, Wayne.
(For the GP Ruby.NET development team).


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Dr Wayne Kelly Senior Lecturer
Email: [e-mail] of Software Engineering and DC
Phone: [phone] Faculty of Information Technology
Fax: [phone] Queensland University of Technology