Re: Java vs .NET was: RPGIII compiler vs Visual Basic

[Steve Richter <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 6/20/05, Knezevic, Mihael <m.knezevic@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> > What I would like to have is a debate on what is better, Java or .NET.
> >  I think that is the important discussion to have.  What language
> > should Windows/AS400 shops use for the client side of their apps -
> > Java or .NET?
> >
> > Are web services as easy to use in Java as they are in .NET?  In .NET
> > you run a MS program named wsdl.exe which takes the WSDL file of the
> > web service and outputs proxy class code used to call the web service.
> >  Using the proxy class code, calling the web service is a simple one
> > step process.
> i'm just starting with web services and my first experience is that it
> is even easier to use/setup web services in java than in .NET.
> if you wonna try the java part then you should have a look at the apache
> axis project.

What works well with consuming web services in .NET is that everything
is integrated by visual studio.  actually not everything.  For some
reason I have to run wsdl.exe from a command line to create the proxy
class. Once that is done, using the web service is just about the
easiest thing to do in .NET.  Same in Java?

> >
> > How does the .NET framework compare to its Java equivalent?   As an
> > example, there are Socket and other network classes which make network
> > programming pretty easy in .NET.  Dealing with different encoded
> > character sets is pretty easy also.
> >
> > What is the degree of difficulty of using Java to work with a
> > database?  What does it take to switch from a MySQL database to
> > SQLServer or to the iSeries database?  In .NET the programmer only has
> > to change the names of the classes used in the program. SqlConnection
> > and SqlCommand for SQLServer, iDb2Connection and iDb2Command for
> > iSeries, MySqlConnection and MySqlCommand for MySQL.  Same thing in
> > Java?
> my opinion is that java beats .NET there easily. properly written you
> only have to change the connection string and the name of the database
> driver class once. both could reside in a config file, so to change it
> depends on how fast you can type =) ... a couple of seconds i guess

good to know.

> > Why is PHP being chosen so frequently over Java when coding Linux
> > based web sites?  That make me question Java a bit.   Also, I dont
> > like the idea of having two incompatible languages ( Java and PHP ), 3
> > if you include C/C++, being used at a typical Linux shop.
> i think it all depends of the size and complexity of the site/project
> and of the requirements.
> it is very easy to setup a little web site with php. but larger sites
> become less managable.

so you hit a wall with PHP where you have to rewrite in Java? If so,
that is not good at all.  Rewrites are so 1990s.

> > What language will a Java/iSeries shop use when it writes a
> > spreadsheet application?  First question - will the typical
> > java/iSeries shop also be using Excel spreadsheets on the desktop?
> > Which means they will be using a .NET language to program the
> > spreadsheets?  If so, that makes another incompatible language used in
> > a Java/iSeries centered shop.
> if you wonna write clients in java you should perhaps look at the rich
> clients concept and take a look at eclipse. never used it yet (no
> requirements for it) but it looks promising.

I have not coded anything in office 2003 either.  My expectation is my
.NET skills are transferable to office programming and I would be
productive within a day of getting acclimated.  Do you have the same
expectations of using Eclipse?

-Steve