Microsoft has open sourced npm.net, its .NET library for the Node.js package manager. This will enable developers to take advantage of work done by Microsoft for the WebMatrix team.

npm.net is a .NET library that implements a C# wrapper for common node npm (Node Packaged Modules) commands. It complements Node.js, server-side JavaScript that you can use to create applications that work like a web server under the control of a JavaScript application.

So long as you’re using managed code, npm.Net gives you access to NPM commands to carry out tasks such as deploying or updating node.js modules on a client machine.

The library has two classes for interacting with node npm commands, an API that provides a close mirror for the npm commands, and a higher level set of commands that is useful when you’re writing code to deal with immediate children.

Making the announcement on the MSDN interoperability blog,  Claudio Caldato, Principal Program Manager of Microsoft Open Technologies Inc, said that the source code of the library has been released so that developers who are interested in building automation tools or any other sort of integration between node.js and .NET can make use of some of the work that has been done for the WebMatrix team.

The library has been used by the WebMatrix team to implement its NPM package discovery feature. As we've previously reported, WebMatrix is Microsoft’s free web development tool that Microsoft hopes will be used to build modern websites that hopefully also use Azure, Microsoft’s cloud hosting service. The latest version, recently released, includes support for Node.js projects.