IronPython is a new fast implementation of the Python programming language running on the .NET Framework. While it stays true to the beauty and simplicity of the Python language, IronPython offers Python programmers seamless access to the riches of .NET libraries and applications in a fully dynamic environment as well as a static compilation to produce pre-compiled assemblies.

This talk will focus on utilizing the power of IronPython beyond the interactive console development and exploration. It will demonstrate how to use IronPython to add rich scripting support to existing .NET applications. This will allow us to explore and animate the application and extend its functionality with custom Python code. We will also demonstrate how IronPython can be used to bring together and orchestrate a wide variety of .NET components and services.

Originally announced at OSCON 2004 as pre-alpha 0.6, IronPython is now approaching the final 1.0 release. Most of the design questions have been answered and significant improvements were made in the areas of interoperability with .NET and COM and especially compatibility with the standard Python implementation. We will talk about the broader scope of these improvements and how they may relate to other implementations of scripting languages on .NET.

This talk is targeted at Python programmers looking to take advantage of the .NET Framework and at .NET programmers looking to learn how Python can make their jobs easier.