Jadu, a UK-based developer, has developed a technology that can give strictly Microsoft technology-based companies access to popular open source applications such as WordPress and MediaWiki.
Jadu has said that its 'Phalanger' compiler can turn applications written in PHP into executable files that can be run natively on Microsoft's .NET framework.
The open source PHP language and Microsoft's .NET Framework are competing development languages and normally it's a case of never the twain shall meet - as code written for one will not work on the other. Jadu claims that its Phalanger project will close this gap, saving companies time and money.
"Many of our customers are strictly Microsoft houses," Jadu's chief executive Suraj Kika told IT PRO. "So [giving access to open source applications] has been a challenge for us. One solution would be to have two versions of the software, but we didn't want to go that route."
Kika explained that Jadu built-on a project created by Charles University of Prague to create its PHP to .NET compiler.
"There are just two DLL files, which makes it very portable. It can be pulled directly into Visual Studio for full commenting so developers can just right click and redeploy."
However, having built the compiler, Kika said he is unsure how the global developer community will react to it. "We think it opens up a global market for .NET developers. They don't need PHP or Apache and can just take the compiled application off a virtual machine. It's a milestone we hope. We just want to get the message spread to see what great things [.NET developers] come up with."
Further information on Phalanger can be found at http://php-compiler.net.
