I don’t understand why everyone fusses over C#.NET so much. I haven’t really found anything to do with it that I can’t readily do with VB.NET. Even Microsoft says there’s really not much of a difference between the two…
In talking with Josh about it, I guess the big benefit of it is just that it’s in the C-style of programming, which some folks find easier to read/understand. It’s very hard for me to get behind a language just because of formatting, though…
The best quote I’ve seen related to this topic so far is:
“…the brutal truth is that the CLR enforces commonality and language is a lifestyle choice.”
dscott:
To be quite honest, the C#.NET stuff is about as appealing as XML, Java, etc.. Not that they aren’t handy for some things, but I remember people touting XML as this amazing new thing that would result in essentially a revolution in development. It never really happened. Same with Java. I was told it would be some universal language and blah blah blah…
Not that I’m any better at predicting the future of the industry… Heck, I was the kid clinging to local BBS forums and proclaiming that this whole “WWW” thing was just a big fad and that it would never catch on.
Anyhow, yeah, I definitely agree that having a C-style background would make it a good choice to learn, but what about us poor souls with a VB background? I think the tipping point for me will be if I start getting back into *NIX development. If that happens, I don’t think I’ll be able to talk myself out of getting into C-style languages any longer…
We’ll see, I guess.
I agree with the quote. However, I have noticed that when looking for code examples, I sometimes have to dig a little deeper to find VB.NET examples. I can, for the most part, translate the code examples back to VB.NET or if anything the concept behind the code example.
Although, in my job search, I did notice there to be a few more C# positions available than VB.NET positions, but nothing that would make me jump and say “Man, I gotta learn C#!”
If I were comming from a Java or C++ background, the transition to C# would probably be a natural choice.
Well like I said, if you know VB.NET and that’s what the company is using, I’d just stick with it. There are plenty of jobs out there for both.
Funny you mention XML, I remember the hype also. XML has its place, but it certainly is not the “be all” that some people and sites were touting it to be. I think it’s a great way to move data around between two seperate systems or technologies. As long as they can read XML, all you have to do is agree on the DTD for the data.