.NET, Java to JavaScript compiler

I am interested to create a drag-and-drop layout designer using only JavaScript, HTML and CSS. The designer will allow the user to drag the page elements from one place to another (something like Blogger's layout designer) to create a site layout. But I don't want to hand code everything in JavaScript, I would prefer to write my application in .NET (preferably) or Java and rely on a compiler to compile it to JavaScript and HTML.

What are the .NET or Java to JavaScript compilers that you have used and can recommend? For Java to JavaScript I know GWT is available. What about .NET to JavaScript? Microsoft did come out with Volta, but the project seems to be no longer available.

java .net javascript

Edit Report

Script# has already been mentioned. It hasn't been updated since August 2008.
Milescript is another, but also has seen very little for 6 months.
Extsharp for the Ext library. Adds Ext support for Script#
Javascript compiler to Java (going the wrong way for you)
Java to script Eclipse plugin

My issues with Script# (a known issue) is it doesn't support jQuery yet. However it comes with a very lightweight library to tie in with the .NET framework, in Nikhil's sscorlib.js file and ssfx.core.js files. And also has support for lots of other Javascript APIs (mostly Microsoft, seeing as he is in the ASP.NET team).

I'd love to see a Script# extension for jQuery (I'm thinking about writing it if it's easy enough). As it stands, most don't provide full compilation yet but they're certainly getting there.

Update: I wrote a small extension to enable JQuery support Script# a few months ago. The project can be found here.

answered 2009-03-05T10:09:49.593

.NET, Java to JavaScript compiler

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