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

 
> 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.

> 
> 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

> 
> 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.

the php setup is far more easier. with most linux distributions it takes
only a single line on the command line
(like: apt-get install apache php4)
and you are ready to run.

   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.
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.


just my 2 cents.

mk