5 ms·

It's great to see the HN community responding positively to news about .NET/Mono and related tech. I've been working with C#/.NET since 2008 and always felt it'

It's great to see the HN community responding positively to news about .NET/Mono and related tech. I've been working with C#/.NET since 2008 and always felt it's a vastly superior platform to Java in every way. It's a shame it is taking so long for the wider tech community to realise this.

romanovcode 10y ago
It's because of Classic ASP stigma attached to it so whenever you tell people you're working with .NET they think about `runat=server` and *.aspx BS. Even now when I tell some people that .NET is very simple, fast and runs on osx/linux they are like "Really!? No way bla bla."
- efdee 10y ago
  Nitpicking, but "runat=server" and *.aspx are not "Classic ASP". They are ASP.NET Webforms features. "Classic ASP" is what came before ASP.NET
  - c17r 10y ago
    *.aspx is definitely ASP.NET, but Classic ASP also had runat=server silliness.
    - efdee 10y ago
      You are totally right.
arenaninja 10y ago
As an outsider (largely worked with PHP/Java codebases, recently started C#/.NET Core), the naming conventions are awful. I'm still not sure what the differences are between: * ASP.NET * .NET MVC * .NET 4.5 * .NET WCF * WPF It's a nebula of names, but I've been ridiculously productive while trying to grasp .NET core. I'm currently trying to make a job to take DB data and dump it on Elasticsearch. It honestly feels like PHP7 with async, it's great
- efdee 10y ago
  * .NET 4.5 = v4.5 of the .NET framework * ASP.NET = Web subsystem of the .NET framework. * ASP.NET MVC = MVC framework that is part of ASP.NET (not ".NET MVC") * WCF = Communications subsystem of the .NET framework (not ".NET WCF") * WPF = Presentation layer subsystem of the .NET framework
- nathanaldensr 10y ago
  It basically comes down to named groupings of assemblies. They are really just marketing terms. I consider the .NET Framework to encompass all .NET assemblies shipped by Microsoft in the System and sometimes Microsoft namespaces. The ones you listed are simply groupings that Microsoft considers important enough to create project templates for, have forums dedicated to each, produce examples for, etc.
samfisher83 10y ago
The two features I miss from java: 1. The compiler checks for exceptions being thrown and and makes you write a catch. 2. Anonymous inner classes.I prefer even handlers, but would still like this feature. I think c# does a good job of always adding features that make it easier to write code.
- rusanu 10y ago
  Interesting that you miss checked exceptions. Is one of the most criticized feature of the language, see Does Java need Checked Exceptions? [0]. Also in this discussion between Anders Hejlsberg and Bruce Eckel they are discussing why C# did not adopt them: The Trouble with Checked Exceptions [1]. Also Java theory and practice: The exceptions debate [2] discusses the more on the topic. [0] http://www.mindview.net/Etc/Discussions/CheckedExceptions/ http://www.mindview.net/Etc/Discussions/CheckedExceptions/ [1] http://www.artima.com/intv/handcuffs.html http://www.artima.com/intv/handcuffs.html [2] https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/j-jtp05254/ https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/j-jtp05254/
marcusarmstrong 10y ago
I've spent the two halves of my career thus far working on each stack, and I really can't see where those sorts of claims come from, honestly. C# as a language is a win over Java, but from an operational perspective, it's a disaster--IIS is an absolute nightmare. Beyond that, I tend to think that because of the niceties that C# has over Java, that has somewhat held back .NET community adoption of some better practices (specifically immutability). All that said, .NET Core is a huge win on the operational side of things, so it's definitely moving in the right direction.
- damiencarol 10y ago
  See from Java perspective, it's just 20 years too late.
  - alimbada 10y ago
    I see it as 10 years ahead.
    - dhefiosdo 10y ago
      The fact that your opinion differs from his doesn't give you the moral high ground to smugly down vote him.
      - alimbada 10y ago
        What makes you think I was the one that downvoted him? I don't even get to see a downvote button...
- topbanana 10y ago
  .Net isn't IIS. It's just one web server that can host it. And I'd take IIS over WebSphere any day!
  - pjmlp 10y ago
    Me too. Websphere is such a pain to use, yet it still is everywhere on enterprise projects.

romanovcode 10y ago

It's because of Classic ASP stigma attached to it so whenever you tell people you're working with .NET they think about `runat=server` and *.aspx BS. Even now when I tell some people that .NET is very simple, fast and runs on osx/linux they are like "Really!? No way bla bla."

efdee 10y ago
Nitpicking, but "runat=server" and *.aspx are not "Classic ASP". They are ASP.NET Webforms features. "Classic ASP" is what came before ASP.NET
- c17r 10y ago
  *.aspx is definitely ASP.NET, but Classic ASP also had runat=server silliness.
  - efdee 10y ago
    You are totally right.

arenaninja 10y ago

As an outsider (largely worked with PHP/Java codebases, recently started C#/.NET Core), the naming conventions are awful. I'm still not sure what the differences are between: * ASP.NET * .NET MVC * .NET 4.5 * .NET WCF * WPF It's a nebula of names, but I've been ridiculously productive while trying to grasp .NET core. I'm currently trying to make a job to take DB data and dump it on Elasticsearch. It honestly feels like PHP7 with async, it's great

efdee 10y ago
* .NET 4.5 = v4.5 of the .NET framework * ASP.NET = Web subsystem of the .NET framework. * ASP.NET MVC = MVC framework that is part of ASP.NET (not ".NET MVC") * WCF = Communications subsystem of the .NET framework (not ".NET WCF") * WPF = Presentation layer subsystem of the .NET framework
nathanaldensr 10y ago
It basically comes down to named groupings of assemblies. They are really just marketing terms. I consider the .NET Framework to encompass all .NET assemblies shipped by Microsoft in the System and sometimes Microsoft namespaces. The ones you listed are simply groupings that Microsoft considers important enough to create project templates for, have forums dedicated to each, produce examples for, etc.

samfisher83 10y ago

The two features I miss from java: 1. The compiler checks for exceptions being thrown and and makes you write a catch. 2. Anonymous inner classes.I prefer even handlers, but would still like this feature. I think c# does a good job of always adding features that make it easier to write code.

rusanu 10y ago
Interesting that you miss checked exceptions. Is one of the most criticized feature of the language, see Does Java need Checked Exceptions? [0]. Also in this discussion between Anders Hejlsberg and Bruce Eckel they are discussing why C# did not adopt them: The Trouble with Checked Exceptions [1]. Also Java theory and practice: The exceptions debate [2] discusses the more on the topic. [0] http://www.mindview.net/Etc/Discussions/CheckedExceptions/ http://www.mindview.net/Etc/Discussions/CheckedExceptions/ [1] http://www.artima.com/intv/handcuffs.html http://www.artima.com/intv/handcuffs.html [2] https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/j-jtp05254/ https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/j-jtp05254/

marcusarmstrong 10y ago

I've spent the two halves of my career thus far working on each stack, and I really can't see where those sorts of claims come from, honestly. C# as a language is a win over Java, but from an operational perspective, it's a disaster--IIS is an absolute nightmare. Beyond that, I tend to think that because of the niceties that C# has over Java, that has somewhat held back .NET community adoption of some better practices (specifically immutability). All that said, .NET Core is a huge win on the operational side of things, so it's definitely moving in the right direction.

damiencarol 10y ago
See from Java perspective, it's just 20 years too late.
- alimbada 10y ago
  I see it as 10 years ahead.
  - dhefiosdo 10y ago
    The fact that your opinion differs from his doesn't give you the moral high ground to smugly down vote him.
    - alimbada 10y ago
      What makes you think I was the one that downvoted him? I don't even get to see a downvote button...
topbanana 10y ago
.Net isn't IIS. It's just one web server that can host it. And I'd take IIS over WebSphere any day!
- pjmlp 10y ago
  Me too. Websphere is such a pain to use, yet it still is everywhere on enterprise projects.