Java 1.5 vs C#

SexyFingers writes "Sun released Java 1.5. The non-API stuff that they've added made it finally "catch-up" with C# - since both languages are built to support OOP from the ground-up, their constructs become almost identical as additional OOP "features" are supported. So if you're doing C# and your foundations in OOP are rock-solid, there really isn't any difference whether you're coding C# or Java."

Here's the list of enhancements to the Java Language:

1. Generics (C# 2.0 already supports this)
2. Enhanced For-Loop (the foreach construct in C# 1.0, duh!)
3. Autoboxing/Unboxing (C# 1.0 already has this, everything is an object, even the primitives - not really, but they do it so well...)
4. Typesafe Enums (again C# 1.0 already implemented this, but I think they've added a little bit more twist in Java, that its actually a better implementation)
5. Varargs (C# 1.0's params construct, ellipsis construct in C++)
6. Static Import (I don't know if C# 1.0 has this, or C#2.0, but C# has a construct for aliasing your imports - which is way cooler. Static Import, actually promotes bad coding habits IMHO)
7. Metadata/Annotations (this is C# 1.0's Attributes, Sun's upturned noses just gave it a fancier name - also, C#'s implementation is better and more intuitive)

They've beefed up the API some, and integrated several packages with the regular JSDK that used to be a part of a separate package or installation ---in my NSHO, the Java API has become bloated...

At this point (even before Whidbey) the deciding factor (as always) for Enterprise work, when choosing a language platform, should be the support it has behind it, in terms of IDE, tools, api, and longevity of the vendor pushing it (forget the OpenSource crap argument, those guys are too in love with Perl, Python, and Ruby - Java could become the child nobody wants to talk about if Sun dies) - right now that's C# and the .NET Framework ---

If you ask Paul Graham though, both language would be utter crap and fit only for idiots :) http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html [I'm exaggerating, so hold off on those flames.]

Comments

Why is there a C# advertisement on /.?

[Cloudgatherer]

Seriously, this looks like an ad for C#, a bunch of claims with very little support/evidence for those claims.

I've worked on C# and Java projects. As far as I'm concerned, C# = MS Java. MS could not control Java, so they abandoned support for it and built thier own "version." It's really a rinse & repeat cycle for MS: see successful software, build own version of said software to try to take over that market as well.

I call bullshit

[The Bungi]

There is no apparent point to this "story". It's full of grammatical errors and obvious flamebait arguments (flamebait in the context of the slashbot groupthink). What, "C# is teh roxx0rz and Java.. well, I forgot teh point I was makeing for Java"? "The open source crap argument"? Way to go.

Here's my theory. Along with the ubiquitous slashvertisements and the Microsoft-bash-of-teh-day barrage posts, these are a perfect opportunity to create a story that will generate 1,000+ comments and ten times those many page views and ergo ad impressions.

C'mon, C# vs. Java? Outside of "RIAA sues 86 year-old grandma", "We hate Bush, let's talk" and "Microsoft patents KDE" there is no better source of inflammatory material in the dorkosphere.

Sad, really.

Re:Sounds a lot like religion

[jayminer]

I code C# for a living, so according to your definition, sold (or more appropriately rented) my soul to the devil. (This does not change the fact that I personally prefer free/open source technology. My PDA, my media players, my home operating system are all free/open source based.)

Java is not any more closer than C# to open source technologies. Sun doesn't like open source, just as Microsoft.

It's a very well known fact that Java has been a base (or in other words "the" figure) for Microsoft while developing C#, but that does not imply that "Java is good, C# is bad" or vice versa.

I would be happier personally to code in Java, but professional life yields to disqualify who resists new technology.
Your choice of programming language is not your religion, and it can change continuously through your life. Just like your operating system.

Important differences between Java and C#

[daveho]

While neither Java nor C# is truly free of being controlled by an Evil Corporation(tm), Java at least has multiple vendors, runs on a wide variety of platforms, and has an open standardization process.

With C#, stuck in windoze

[JPyObjC Dude]

so if you're doing C# and you're foundations in OOP is rock-solid, there really isn't any difference whether you're coding C# or Java.

He kind of forgot that there are many programmers and customers who DON'T want to deploy their systems on win32. With Java apps, you don't have to. In fact you can choose almost any operating system and hardware. Anybody who chooses C# over Java for enterprise deployments is truly a MicroWeenie.

I much prefer my 8 processor HP UX box any day :]

Re:With C#, stuck in windoze

[pesc]

You are right. One main feature that Sun designed for Java was WORA (Write Once Run Anywhere). M$ thought this sucked. They tried to destroy that feature and got sued over it. So the invented C# instead. C# isn't WORA, it is WORM (Write Once Run on Microsoft). With C#, you are locked in again. That's the whole point with C#.

Re:APIs

[AKAImBatman]

Let me know when stuff like an XML Parser and MD5 are native in Java.

They ARE.

XML package
MD5 and SHA support

The former has been in Java since 1.3, and the later since 1.1(!).

Honestly, Java has every feature and the kitchen sink in its core APIs. And if a feature isn't there, it's very easy to write a library to add it. That's why programmers like Java so much.

Any other features you'd like me to find for you?

Ravioli Code

[Ian Bicking]

I think the problem you are seeing is Ravioli Code; a (perhaps excessive) reaction to spaghetti code. Also Java (and probably C#) programmers seem to take Patterns too seriously as well, patterns should be descriptive, not prescriptive.

Re:Too bad we can't mod articles

[Slime-dogg]

I wouldn't give Java the credit for C#. If anything, it was Delphi that C# was built upon. The only thing that C# "borrowed" from Java is the idea of a VM, and even that functions in a different way than the Java one.