C# vs. VB.Net – It’s Just Syntax!
C# vs. VB.Net – It’s Just Syntax!
Since the .Net languages came out, there have been many holy wars between C# and VB.Net.
Which is better?
Which is more reliable?
Which pays more?
Which makes better coffee?
If you would have asked me that question last month, I would have said C# (for everything but the coffee… Java wins that round).
Ask me that question today, and you’ll get a different answer.
The (sorta) Conversion
I recently started working for a small log homes company. They have several projects written using Visual Basic.Net that I now maintain. I wanted to start using C#, since that was my choice in the holy wars. I would always tell someone (VB.Net works, but C# works better and pays better). I started researching the differences between the languages so I could present a proposal to my boss and convince him of his inferior ways and convert him to the truth.
Boy was I wrong…
After visiting several websites, I found one that gave me The Answer! Not the answer I originally thought I wanted, but the answer that I needed. This article talked about how both languages are built on the .NET framework. Both languages accomplish the same thing; they just use different syntax to do it.
It’s All About the Framework
If you’re a VB.NET developer and you know the framework, you can learn the syntax for C# in a week (after all, most of it is just braces and semi-colons, right?) And if you’re a C# developer, then you just have to stop using the semi-colons and braces.
In truth, there are more syntax differences between the languages. The Case statements are different, assignment and equality operators are different, and structure of classes and inheritance is different (to name a few). But those are syntax differences. Both languages will create email clients. Both can create dynamic websites, both will create network tools, command line utilities and fancy windows applications.
So, before you start jumping back on the holy war bandwagon, why not ask yourself this: Do you want to be a versatile developer who has a whole tool belt of tricks, or just a programmer who can bang out code in one language (or maybe two)?
Next time someone asks you which language you write in, you can tell them “VB.Net AND C#”. Why? Just remember this phrase:
If you know the framework, the rest is just syntax.
Author Information:
http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/