Reports say that the software giant Microsoft has plans to create support JavaScript and HTML5 as a platform to develop Office 15. in earlier reports, Microsoft had stated that the focus of Windows 8 would ne on JanaScript and HTML5. This was touted to be an important development strategy for its new UI. This strategy has just got an extension which relates to the next-gen Office Suite.
ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley said that now Office programmability needs to be shifted to a higher level. She explains office programmability referring to the extendability which the platform of Microsoft Office would give along with third-party add-on applications and custom code. Till now Microsoft has kept developers busy with Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), but with Office 15 coming into play, things will be different.Office 15 is expected to be on the rolls by around 2012 or 2013. This launch would see the software giant creating a next-gen of tools which would be for the development of Office 15. These tools would have their eyes focused on JavaScript and HTML5. The target of these tools seems to be more than just Office. Office 365 would even be in the purview of these tools.
Mary even noted that Office 15 integration with JavaScript/HTML, had given rise to two job listings. The first job posting suits a software development engineer which states:
“Now is the time to take Office programmability to the next level. We’re a small but strong team within Visual Studio that is currently in the planning stages for Office 15 programmability tools. One of our key goals is to enable professional developers to contribute to the Office platform by making development for Office as easy and fun as building applications for the next version of Windows! Integration of JavaScript/HTML5 will enable developers to create rich applications that span clients and server, integrate with Office 365, enhance the SharePoint experience, and unlock new scenarios that unleash the great potential that lies in the combination of Office and the cloud.”
The second one was much more specific and related to the upcoming tools:
“Our mission is to provide the next generation of tools for extending functionality in Microsoft and third party applications through scripting, macros, and add-ins. Those tools allow the business application developer to take full advantage of modern programming platforms (e.g., Visual Basic, C#, HTML, JavaScript) to quickly and easily develop innovative customized solutions for their organization.”
Regarding the job listings, the experience criteria includes Open XML and/or SharePoint Workflow along with VSTO, VBA.
Talking about the existence of VSTO and VBA in the future to come, it cannot be assumed that Microsoft is planning to retire them. But on a detailed note, a developer has no official detailing as to what the future has for them relating to these tools.
One thing which is quite clear is that the emphasis now is mainly on JavaScript and HTML5 and the required preference would even be given to these new tools so that the platform looks better for the introduction of the upcoming versions of Office and Windows. It would however be interesting to see as to how quick and how well it works out for Microsoft.