InfoQ

News

Mono 2.0 Released

Posted by Jonathan Allen on Oct 06, 2008 01:44 AM

Community
.NET
Topics
Open Source ,
Linux
Tags
Mono

Mono 2.0 has been released. Though still behind Microsoft's .NET in some areas, in others it has leaped ahead. For those seeking to write cross-platform applications, the first list of features in the release notes is the Microsoft-compatible APIs.

  • ADO.NET 2.0 API for accessing databases.
  • ASP.NET 2.0 API for developing Web-based applications.
  • Windows.Forms 2.0 API to create desktop applications.
  • System.XML 2.0: An API to manipulate XML documents.
  • System.Core: Provides support for the Language Integrated Query (LINQ).
  • System.Xml.Linq: Provides a LINQ provider for XML.
  • System.Drawing 2.0 API: A portable graphics rendering API.

For cross-platform graphics, Mono also offers Mono.Cairo, a binding to the Cairo Graphics library. "Currently supported output targets include the X Window System, Quartz, Win32, image buffers, PostScript, PDF, and SVG file output. Experimental backends include OpenGL (through glitz), XCB, BeOS, OS/2, and DirectFB."

For applications that behave more natively on Linux, Gtk# 2.12 is available as an alternative to Windows.Forms. These provide access to Gtk+ and Gnome, and are also usable on Windows and OSX. Also useful to Linux developers is Mono.Posix, which offers both low level and high level interfaces to Linux and Unix-specific functionality.

If you are looking to manipulate compiled assemblies, Mono.Cecil does just that. This can be used for experimentation, patching code after the source was lost, or for building AOP-style frameworks and tools.

For database access, Mono provides bindings to SQLite. Other databases supported by third-party libraries include PostgresSQL, DB2, Oracle, Sybase, SQL server, and Firebird.

On the compiler front, C# 3 is supported with full LINQ support. Very large arrays using 64-bt indexes are supported on 64-bit machines, a part of the ECMA specification that Microsoft has not implemented yet. Visual Basic is a version behind, only supporting VB 8.

On MacOS and Solaris, DTrace is supported.

Related Sponsor

Red Gate Software makes ingeniously simple tools for over 500,000 SQL Server and .NET professionals.

3 comments

Watch Thread Reply

SharpDevelop by Lars Tackmann Posted Oct 6, 2008 4:31 AM
Re: SharpDevelop by Jonathan Allen Posted Oct 6, 2008 10:57 AM
SplendidCRM 2.1 released for PostgreSQL and Mono by Paul Rony Posted Oct 7, 2008 5:12 PM
Sort by date descending

  1. Back to top

    SharpDevelop

    Oct 6, 2008 4:31 AM by Lars Tackmann

    Looks good. I cannot help noticing allot of graphics API work, does this mean that SharpDevelop will finally be able to run on Linux or are we still stuck with MonoDevelop ?.

    Reply

  2. Back to top

    Re: SharpDevelop

    Oct 6, 2008 10:57 AM by Jonathan Allen

    Good question, I'll ask around and see what I can find out.

    Reply

  3. Back to top

    SplendidCRM 2.1 released for PostgreSQL and Mono

    Oct 7, 2008 5:12 PM by Paul Rony

    Adding to the excitement, SplendidCRM is releasing a version that supports PostgreSQL and Linux using Mono. http://www.splendidcrm.com/AboutUs/PressReleases/October82008/tabid/116/Default.aspx

    Reply

Educational Content

Bindings, Platforms, and Innovation

This presentation focuses on the Internet and separating myth from fact, history from the future, and the mundane from the imaginative. Bob Frankston presents a vision of what could and should be.

  •  Jul 02, 2009,
  •  

Orchestrating Long Running Activities with JBoss / JBPM

This article explores the use of JBoss and jBPM to implement design solutions that effectively address the issue of orchestrating long running activities.

  •  Jul 01, 2009,
  •  

Neo4j - The Benefits of Graph Databases

This presentation covers the use of graph databases as an optimal solution for data that is difficult to fit in static tables, rapidly evolving data or data that has a lot of optional attributes.

Realistic about Risk: Software development with Real Options

This session introduces Real Options and shows how it can help in running your project. Real Options is a decision-making process that can be used to manage risk.

  •  Jun 30, 2009,
  •  

Communication Flexibility Using Bindings

This article discusses the use of bindings on services and references (including the instance of non-configured bindings) as the means to implement SCA communications in a Web and SOA environment.

  •  Jun 30, 2009,
  •  

Writing DSLs in Groovy

After a short introduction to DSLs, Scott Davis plays with the keyboard showing how to approach the creation of a DSL by typing working snippets of Groovy code that get executed.

Scaling Agile with C/ALM (Collaborative Application Lifecycle Management)

IBM Rational and InfoQ present, Scaling Agile with C/ALM, an eBook showing organizations how to become “finely tuned software delivery machines” by enabling team integration and scaling.

Concurrent Programming with Microsoft F#

Amanda Laucher presents a real life enterprise application written in F#. She shows actual code snippets, explaining design decisions and suggesting how to use some of the F# constructs.