Programming news: Reflector, BlackBerry AppWorld 2.1, HTML Working Group

Language/library updates

The IronPython team released the second beta of IronPython 2.7.

Tools and products

I spoke to the team at MuleSoft about the beta of Mule iON. It is an integration platform offered as a cloud service. Instead of trying to code disparate systems to match each other, you have them match the iON interface, which links them together. This makes it much easier to re-use services, and it reduces the need to write per-application integrations.

In a move that has surprised and angered many in the .NET community, Red Gate is going to discontinue free versions of the popular tool Reflector.

Pervasive released DataRush 5.0. Its big new feature is the ability to scale across clusters.

BlackBerry AppWorld 2.1 has launched. It includes the ability to add in-app payments.

The Windows Phone 7 development tools have been updated, including copy/paste support.

RIM updated its tablet simulator. The full BlackBerry Browser is now included.

SOASTA announced CloudTest Pro, a system for testing cloud-based applications (including Azure and AWS).

Editorial and commentary

The HTML Working Group (currently working on HTML5) has had its charter extended. Along with it came the responsibility to get to Last Call by May 2011, and reach Recommendation status by the middle of 2014.

Dilbert is usually pretty good, but the 2/13/2011 strip about downsizing was particularly outstanding.

Tips and tricks

Kirupa Chinnathambi posted a tutorial on how to use Blend to generate sample data from a .NET class. This is very useful when developing an application.

Arik Poznanski put together a free library to read RSS on WP7.

Here are 101 examples in C# and VB.NET that show off the functionality in the new Async CTP. (You must have Silverlight installed to view the content.)

Kunal Chowdhury wrote a good article about how to get Silverlight Out of Browser apps to work with the Window 7 Taskbar.

Events

The Delphi Developer Days conference is coming to Washington DC, Houston, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam in April and May. Check the Delphi Developer Days site for specific dates and more details.

There will be a NetBeans Day event in Munich on June 18.

The Nebraska Code Camp is looking for speakers. The conference will be held April 9, 2011.

J.Ja