ASP.NET MVC framework makes the jump to open source

It may have cooled its heels for over a year in preview limbo, but Microsoft's ASP.NET MVC made the open-source leap rather quickly -- rolled out as 1.0 last month at MIX'09 after a quick RC2 in early March, the code is now open-source as per the Microsoft Public License (MS-PL).

The Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural framework isn't in very common use yet, but the philosophy's good, allowing programmers to maintain separation between data, interface and applications logic aspects of their projects. (That can make coding faster -- and the results both more elegant and more reusable, leading to faster coding -- a non-vicious circle, if you like.) And if the MS-PL is also news to you, Microsoft's Scott Guthrie (corporate VP for .NET)-- who describes the new release as "a 'closer to the metal' web programming option for ASP.NET" -- has a fast summation on his blog: "contains no platform restrictions and provides broad rights to modify and redistribute the source code."