.net : Java Glossary

2007-10-11 by Roedy Green ©1996-2009 Canadian Mind Products
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.net

Microsoft’s scheme to unify compilers. Compilers for C++, C#, J++, VB etc. all generate an intermediate code called CLR (Common Language Runtime) which is optimised to machine code by a common engine. This scheme allows for greater inter-language operability. It also allows a large common class library to be shared by all the MS languages. If you don’t have the .net run time on your W98/Me/NT/W2K/XP/W2K3/Vista machine, you can download it to install or repair it. .net supports code signing with Authenticode certificates but not sandboxes for security.

It is also their proprietary scheme for writing server side software.

Advantages

.net’s big advantage is you can also do low level unsafe code in it. With Java you must revert to C++ and native code.
.net was designed to support a wide variety of languages. Java was designed specifically for Java, though it supports many others too.

Disadvantages

.net’s main problem is it single source. You are trusting a company with a bad record of betraying trust and unceremoniously dropping products, e.g. J++.
.net is designed for compilation. Java is designed for interpreting and hotspotting. Java allows elaborate dynamic run time tricks. CLR intermediate language is similar to Java byte code, except that it is designed purely for compilation, not optional interpreting or dynamic loading.
Through Mono, .net has been ported to many platforms by volunteers. Unfortunately Mono does not support GUIs, just command line apps. The other catch is Microsoft has the legal right to pull the plug on Mono at any time.
.net locks you into using Windows on your server. You cannot scale to larger servers or use banks of inexpensive Linux servers. There are very few hosting services that use Microsoft OSes, so you will be forced to host your app in house on in-house servers, even for a project with a short expected lifetime.
Microsoft’s goal is to lock you into Microsoft, using treachery. If you are not very careful, your server-side code will only work with the latest Microsoft Windows clients running IE.

.net
Authenticode
cab files
certificate
code signing certificate
JVM
Mono Project

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