The interview wasn't really interesting, to be honest, probably because the questions were inane and predictable.
Hejlsberg appears to follow the party line in playing down the extent to which C# was inspired by
Java. Disappointing.
Regarding Sun's decision to keep final control of the Java language in its own hands, this will keep on haunting them in comparisons like this. I'm not entirely happy with it either. On the other hand, Microsoft submission of C# to a standards body reeks like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Microsoft has a track record of taking open standards, appropriating them by defining proprietary, closed extensions, then using its market dominance to push those. Are you convinced all of that has changed?
Of the top 3 reasons he gives why a Java developer would migrate to C#, only the second (interoperability) holds
water. Microsoft has a fundamentally different
philosophy behind the .NET platform - interoperability between different languages on the same platform - which would be difficult to reconcile with Sun's vision for Java - one language which runs on all kinds of different platforms. If your business is mainly Windows based and you need to integrate tightly with C++ or VB code, this is a compelling reason to jump onto the C# bandwagon.
His first reason, that C# would be closer to C++ and add component-oriented properties and methods, is superficial. Yes, syntactic sugar makes some things a bit easier to do in C#, but this comes at the expense of simplicity. It is not nearly enough reason to migrate to a different language.
That "[C# targets] this new Internet applications world" while "[Java] Web services are an afterthought" is cited as the final reason to jump. Microsoft may have the benefit of hindsight, but Java support for the internet world (JFC,
J2EE, XML,...) is first rate and the fit with the language is excellent. I doubt that whatever edge C# will turn out to have will even come close to justifying the migration.
If these are really the top 3 reasons to move over to C#, the Java world has nothing to fear; most who jump ship will be Microsoft shops which only worked with Java for lack of a viable alternative from Redmond. The maturity of the Java platform, its code base and existing skillset, and the way it rises to new challenges and developments are all excellent reasons to stay put.
- Peter
[This message has been edited by Peter den Haan (edited April 26, 2001).]