Microsoft has been working around the clock to gift developers with the ultimate Christmas present this holiday season, and on Monday, the Redmond, Washington-based company announced that they finally nailed it. It might not be a shiny new iPhone or a brand new car, but Microsoft has made, for developers only, a new quantum computing kit.
Mainstream quantum computing might not be popular right now, but Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) still wanted to get developers ready for when its popularity skyrockets. Today, Microsoft rolled out its Quantum Development Kit in a preview, which gives developers around the world the chance to access the programing language and quantum simulators. Developers also have access to libraries and any resources they need to commence experimenting with the quantum world.
This announcement shouldn’t come as a total surprise considering Microsoft announced back in September that it has long-term plans for quantum computing. Their goal, however, was not to target quantum computing experts but to make a kit that allows even rookies to understand and approach the language.
“Designed ground up for quantum, Q# is the most approachable high-level programming language with a native type system for qubits, operators, and other abstractions. It is fully integrated with Visual Studio, enabling a complete professional enterprise-grade development tooling system for the fastest path to quantum programming efficiency,” the company said.
Essentially, developers will be eligible to test code that is written in Q# in a dedicated local simulator that is included with the Quantum Development Kit in Visual Studio.
For those who don’t know, quantum computing is thought to be the next big thing in the computing sector, and Microsoft says it will “forever alter our economic, industrial, academic, and societal landscape.”
Featured Image: twitter
