So, Microsoft has announced that going forwards, you’ll be able to build Windows 8 applications in HTML5 and Javscript. And from the conversation that was had it sounds like at the moment they’ll *only* support HTML5 and Javascript. Which makes me quite happy and your average DotNet developer panic.

Why? Because this is happening on the desktop — why *wouldn’t* they extend it to the server?

There’s a language called JScript.NET that’s little used but an alternative to c# that currently runs on IIS. Indeed, if you go back a few revisions, the original ASP classic ran very well when written in JScript (Microsoft’s version of Javscript that’s pretty much the same as every other version). Indeed, JScript had proper try catch and stuff way before VBScript did and for a good long while was the better language for writing your ASP.

So, Not only can Microsoft cash in on the Node style serverside Javascript market --  they already have a product that’s 10+ years old and quite mature — they can also provide a huge amount of libraries for it that have already been built.

Could this mean the embracing of serverside Javascript once more on IIS?

This is of interest to me as the site you’re reading this on runs on a rickety old linux server that has a rickety old windows vm atop it running this legacy code (it’s not properly legacy, every update of IE sees an update of the scripting engine that powers the site) but running the code really quite fast.

If there’s a new way to do it properly on IIS, I may shelve my plans to build atop Node and try and get this site migrated properly to whatever the new thing’ll be.