Need to decide: .NET or Java?

Question

Which has more of a future overall? Which has the most interest and best support? Which is the most stable and efficient? Which will cause me the least trouble? Etc.

Answer 1

That's a tough question that is facing most Computer Science majors now.  Here's how I have been thinking about it breaking it down, and then you decide what you want to do with your life.

.NET:

Positives: Works on all windows computers and more corporations are in need of good .NET programmers.  Ones that have a good concept of the MVC model.

Cons: Isn't cross platform capable, so it will limit you to only using Windows and more ore less just developing for windows.  The IDE that it uses (Visual Studio) is extremely expensive.

Java:

Positives: Cross platform, so it can be distributed in more places.  It has a great support network.  Java the company is still very active in developing the language and listening to it's developers (big or small).

Cons: It requires that you know a lot of OOP, which you cannot fully appreciate until you do it in C++.  Uses a lot of processing to do simple tasks (NOTE: This might just be MY Java programs cause I wasn't great at it).

Either language you decide to choose will be fine, it's where you want to go in life.  If you are sticking to big business corporate world then .NET will be your best bet.  If you want to be very versatile and able to move around quite a bit then JAVA is your ticket.

Either way, I would learn their web components (.NET => ASP; JAVA=> JSP) and get good with those too.  It will give you something else that you can have to "one-up" the competitors.  Plus, website applications are the future.  Not many will dispute that.  "Console" applications will still have their place, but you see more web applications coming out.

Best of luck to you,

Chad

Answer 2

The right tool for the right job!

I'm a computer programmer in both .Net AND Java. The reason to use Java is it's multi platform functionality. However it dose have it's drawbacks. It's slower than .Net, The universal installer is not quite done yet (and until recently had not existed). and makes it hard to install dependencies. Look at your target user. Are they advanced computer users? Are they regular desktop users? .Net is great for windows users as long as they have machines that run windows XP or later.

Examine your project carefully and choose the environment that best suits it. They both have advantages and disadvantages. Also they are so nicely similar you can learn both Java and C# with out too much of confusion.

Answer 3

Java runs faster, and is easier to organize, it works on many platforms, and both require virtual machines.  JSP is especially better than ASP online, "VIEWSTATE" is the worst thing ever invented.

Also, most .NET developers suck at programming, and many people in the business have a bad view of them.  .NET does give you the freedom to mix COBOL.NET with C#.NET or any other language, but when was the last time you wanted to use VB or COBOL?...

I'd say Java wins out.  

Answer 4

I am an oldie programmer so I hate these languages that require you to download this and download that. Besides I think these languages are probably now so overloaded with people that you'll probably struggle to get in the marketplace. Plot your future, do you want to be a corperate programmer all your life or an entrepeneur. If its the latter then learn every language you can. In the end its some jackass that put together rules and libraries to create a language, they are'nt gods.

Answer 5

I recommend .NET because it can do things Java can't. It is true that Java is cross-platform, but so is .NET actually. The Mono Project for Linux, and something else for MACs. You will find that coding in .NET opens more possibilities.