Java vs .NET was: RPGIII compiler vs Visual Basic

On 6/18/05, Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > From: Walden H. Leverich
> >
> > Um, ok, if you say so. Ever see the datacenter page?
> >
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/overview/datacente
> > r.mspx
> 
> I have no intention of running 64-way Itanium servers that cost as much
> or more than an iSeries.  I'm talking about servers that pass the
> "cheaper than an iSeries" test.
> 
> 
> > >And if it weren't for the monopolistic stranglehold Windows
> > >currently has, I'd recommend against it for security reasons alone.
> >
> > Name one, just one, properly configured Windows server 2003 box that's
> > had a virus. MS can't. And you'll have to look long and hard for a
> > comprimized Windows 2003 server box, if it was properly configured.
> Has
> > the platform had its problems in the past, sure, but that doesn't mean
> > it sucks today.
> 
> Dude, you really need to take a chill pill.  I was talking about
> desktops.  I have no use for Windows as a server. I think I've made that
> clear.  As to "properly configured", what percentage of Windows servers
> out there today are "properly configured", do you think?
> 
> 
> > >As for the APIs, the move from 16 to 32-bit was about as painful as
> you
> > could get.
> >
> > Actually not as painful as the move to 64-bit RISC if you didn't have
> > observable programs.
> 
> Oh bull.  All you needed was the source, a quick recompile and you're
> done.  Walden, you are losing your credibility.  There was no parallel
> fix on Windows.

What percentage of s/34 and s/36 ran without mod on the as400?   Was
the percentage higher than that of DOS and Windows 3.1 programs that
run without mod on w2k?   There is also the as400 and s/38 code that
used non standard interfaces before the APIs were released.  A lot of
that code will not run on an as400 today.

> 
> > Well, ok, maybe that painful. And how painful is
> > the stupid 16Meg allocation limit we have on the iSeries? We're just
> now
> > getting reasonable terraspace-enabled support.
> 
> Who cares?  How often do you run up against teraspace limitations?  I
> have programmed for 30 years, and NEVER ONCE needed a teraspace pointer.
> Straws, dude, you are grasping at straws.

I am working with some pop3 and smtp email classes  in .NET lately. 
Each mail message, no matter the size, can be stored in a single
contiguous string.  I was curious to know how large a string could be
- running code to test it,  I chickened out at 400 meg. The PC was
able to create a 400 million character unicode string, then copy the
string to another string, in about 30 seconds.

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.

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?

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.   It is
great that the skills I am developing in ASP.NET are easily
transferable to desktop and even spreadsheet programming on Windows.

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.

-Steve