Hi,

Firstly I wasn't sure what I should name the subject but I'm pretty sure .NET isn't killing Java as such but I'm just trying to get a feel for the industry...

I have learnt Java at uni and done some very basic .NET, but not much. I guess I just wondered what everyone thought:

- Is the .NET framework in use, more so, than Java EE (currently) in software engineering (and web application areas)?
- Surely .NET are going to win the "battle" (if I can call it that), seeing as Microsoft are behind it, there are a variety of languages you can use and one day in the near future surely there is going to be releases for the .NET framework on every platform that are up-to-date with windows versions. Is that all true? Thoughts...
- Is software (desktop apps) itself dieing? My experience suggests that asp.NET is far more popular than JSP/JSF for the front end of web applications in which case, should we be moving towards purely web applications (obviously we still need an OS but I guess that's different) does this not mean .NET is going to finish Java off?
- Just the other day I came across a company using PHP (front-end) and C# (back), are there lots of companies out there using PHP and Java?

Hopefully you get the gist of what I'm trying to understand!

Cheers
Ed

Well I bet the is actually something you could do some research on and I bet some magazine probably has asked such a questions.

I work in enterprise Java and I am really not seeing .Net venture too far into my sphere. Sure Microsoft is all over the industry, but none of our major competitors are .Net based platforms. It is my opinion that this is due to cost, the .Net platform is very expensive for enterprise development. Java is much less expensive. (though to be honest I have no numbers to support that opinion and it is quite possible that I am wrong).

I like Java for enterprise middleware, B2B, C2B, and web applications. But I personally would much rather develop a Windows GUI application in .Net than Java.

I don't run into much PHP-JAVA combos (I have seen it though). Java has the J2EE suite and it has JSP which is sorta Java's answer to PHP. Personally I prefer JSP to PHP, but there are reasons to like PHP over JSP (for example PHP is complete in and of itself -- JSP is sort of a Java-HTML bastard child.
To develop web applications in PHP you need to know HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP... and that is about it...

To develop web applications in JSP you need to know HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JSP, Java, and you may also need to know one of Struts, Hibernate, Spring. Not to mention an Application server (or two). Basically J2EE really has a interesting learning curve, but you can do SO much with it. It scales nicely. It has a strong following from the open source community (better than PHP in my opinion).

This post has been edited by NickDMax: 1 Aug, 2008 - 04:09 PM

Here's the TIOBE Programming Community index for July 2008: http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/pap...tpci/index.html

Java is #1

You could also look at job boards and talk to recruiters (from more than one firm) if you want info for your area.

that will never happen java is best.

I can't say one would kill the other at all. They have enough of their own niche markets that they don't have to be in direct competition with one another. It will depend on the platform and if those platforms eventually merge, then you might see a real battle happen.

I like both to tell you the truth.

no, it isn't.

Basically I am a .Net developer, but I don’t think .Net is going to harm Java and its popularity. Though I am not so knowledgeable in Java, I felt like it’s so powerful and elegant, those who love it will never leave it for .Net. Java will live forever…

I like both although I prefer .NET

I have used both for web apps and for desktop applications. For Windows based software, .NET works great. However, if you want your software to run on Mac or Linux without running Wine, I suggest going with Java. Unless I am wrong and missed the announcement, there is no .NET for Linux or Mac natively. While I definitely find ASP.NET easier for web apps then Java, it really depends on the server you writing for. If you are running a Linux box, like NickDMax suggested, go with PHP and maybe a Java applet if you really need one.