Microsoft Develops New Coding Language for Quantum Computers

Quantum computers creep ever closer, and Microsoft is already preparing itself. As a result, the Redmond company unveiled a new programming language designed specifically for quantum computers. While the new language does require an understanding of qubits, superpositions, and entanglement, it incorporates the familiar C# and Python. Microsoft revealed the as-yet-unnamed language at the Ignite conference.

New Coding Language for Quantum Computers

Microsoft’s new coding language is remarkable since it is developed for hardware that doesn’t exist yet. Existing experimental quantum computers are here already – IBM built a 16/17 qubit model – but none are ready for practical applications. IBM is following suit, though: Big Blue is developing the IBM Quantum Experience API in preparation for IBM Q, its first commercial quantum computer.

For Microsoft’s project, the company is working with some of the leading minds in physics, computing, and theoretical research. Michael Freedman – a twenty-year Microsoft veteran and world-renowned mathematician – is leading the research.

Making Quantum Computers Work

Freedman confesses to an absence of altruistic goals; he just wants to make quantum computing work:

“Do I want to cure disease, design new materials, protect the environment?. The truth is, it’s none of that. At this point in the project, the only thing I care about is making the quantum computer work.”

We’ll be waiting years for the project to come to fruition. In the meantime, though, you can check out Microsoft’s new quantum computing coding language for yourself.