Microsoft has unveiled a new Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) layer for the .NET development platform. Designed to simplify the process of bringing support for additional dynamic languages to .NET, the Dynamic Language Runtime is largely based on lessons learned from developing IronPython, an implementation of the Python programming language that runs on .NET's Common Language Runtime (CLR).

Microsoft developers have already been able to build implementations of Python, Ruby, Javascript, and Visual Basic that can run on the DLR, and the company hopes that releasing the DLR infrastructure under a highly-permissive BSD-style Shared Source license will entice independent developers to add support for other languages as well. Since the DLR acts as a layer on top of the CLR, dynamic languages that leverage the DLR will have full access to .NET programming libraries written in other languages like C#.

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