application programming. the microsoft vs ibm approach.

Here is a description of the microsoft approach to programming on its
platform.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/productinfo/whitepapers/default.aspx

I program on both windows and os400.  I would like to know what is IBM's
stategy for how applications are to be programmed on its systems.  Is it
Java and only Java on the IBM Series systems?

ILE has been the IBM version of the .NET MSIL/CLR.  It allows modules
written in different languages to be combined in an application.  Is that
still the case going forward?  Does IBM plan to enhance ILE so that the
following snippet from the above link can also describe what ILE does?

"Programmers may write applications to the .NET Framework using a number of
languages. Each of these languages is compiled to the Microsoft Intermediate
Language (MSIL), which is then converted to native code and executed on the
CLR. Since each language interacts with code written for the CLR, any
application written in any language can interact with any other application
written in any other language. With the introduction of the CLR, programmers
now have a rich palette of languages from which to choose, helping them
select the right language for their skills and for the task at hand."

-Steve Richter