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Reasons To Use Mono For Linux Development
Nerval's Lobster writes: In the eleven years since Mono first appeared, the Linux community has regarded it with suspicion. Because Mono is basically a free, open-source implementation of Microsoft's .NET framework, some developers feared that Microsoft would eventually launch a patent war that could harm many in the open-source community. But there are some good reasons for using Mono, developer David Bolton argues in a new blog posting. Chief among them is MonoDevelop, which he claims is an excellent IDE; it's cross-platform abilities; and its utility as a game-development platform. That might not ease everybody's concerns (and some people really don't like how Xamarin has basically commercialized Mono as an iOS/Android development platform), but it's maybe enough for some people to take another look at the platform.
You just shouldn't bother. It's not worth the risk.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Why use a Java clone instead of just using Java?
Maybe because some people prefer C# to Java? They aren't exactly the same, after all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_C_Sharp_and_Java.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
While I have never work in C# myself, the ability stop code in a debugger, write some code, and then continue executing (compiling your code in real-time) seemed like a really awesome feature (as a C++ guy, we don't get to do this).
The Unity engine is also quite popular and an increasingly popular choice is C# for use with it.
Maybe Microsoft can make one useful invention every decade?;)
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
True but it seems kind of ridiculous to choose an entire platform based on some minor differences in syntax.
I suppose if you're already really familiar with the Microsoft software stack, like you used to build VB apps and have already invested a great deal in Microsoft's tools it might make sense.
But otherwise, it's a smaller ecosystem with fewer libraries, fewer developers, fewer choices, fewer large scale deployments to learn from.
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
I work on a embedded Linux system running Debian Jessie armhf on a Cortex-A5 processor. At some point someone programmed a Web user interface for the system using Mono for Linux. The installation of Mono was difficult, requiring several hundred Mo of space on the filesystem and some trick to get the last package revision. Then the application was started and take all the processing load for almost 4 minutes. At his point it was eating near half the memory available on that embedded system. This was socking, especially for me that like to use qooxdoo for WebUI because it's basically a static file that need no compilation and have a very minimal memory footprint. Finally the guy switched to node.js for the WebUI on that system. The installation was easy, the startup compilation last now less than a single minute and the memory footprint is below 20%, all of that with a more complete demo that with Mono.
The only reason to use Mono is really to get Windows developers onboard.
But that's a long shot. Linux works because there are plenty of developers in mentioned programming languages that support it.
Since Java isn't terribly popular in Linux, .NET has no chance.
1. C# Is a Great Language
me: Yes it is.
2. There's a Great Free IDE: MonoDevelop
me: Finding a decent IDE is not a problem anymore. You can find something for every language.
3. Mono Supports Mobile Development
me: So does Java and Swift. Why does EVERY article out there think you have to pick just ONE language and be stuck with that choice forever???
4. Mono Is Cross-Platform
me: Python, Java, C, C++, Ruby, and many, many more are all cross-platform, too!
5. Mono Powers Games Development
me: The guy is totally right. He has some great examples, too.
Please just don't think, that you MUST use C# to get into game dev. For example, you can have much faster prototyping with PyGame. You can really learn to code in Swift over a weekend, if you have mastered one similar language well.
My advice to you is: pick any language, become good at it. Just don't do VB.NET or I will have to kill you.
Apparently "we" don't have a long memory of Sun/Oracle's past behavior: Sun's repeated lies about making Java an open standard, their legal threats and lawsuits, the way they killed off independent implementations, and most recently, Oracle suing the pants of Google again. Microsoft played hardball on the business side, but Sun and Oracle have been dishonest, deceptive, and litigious. In the end, Java is both technically inferior and legally more risky than C#.
How about "C# has pointers" or "C# has unsigned types" or "C# has direct native code interoperability through function imports and exports" or "C# has proper reified generics" or "C# has allocated-on-the-stack value types" or "C# has a properly unified type system which means that you don't have to go out of your way to make an int behave like an Object or an array behave like a collection" or "C# has generator coroutines" or "C# has asynchronous coroutines" or "C# has deferred query comprehension" or "C# has transparent expression tree generation allowing for custom interpretation/execution of C# code on heterogeneous data sources" or "C# has dynamic dispatch".