Wizard API updated!
Tim Boudreau has released a new version of the Swing Wizard library (version 0.997) that fixes the WizardException bug reported in JavaWorld's recent Open Source Java Project profile. The article's examples have been reworked to test out the new, improved WizardException. Thanks, Tim, for this helpful fix!
Open Source Java Projects: The Wizard API

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Microsoft's C# public beta hits a high note

Discover what's behind Microsoft's C# initiative, and learn how it may affect Java's future

By Tom Yager, InfoWorld, 09/22/00

Choosing a language for enterprise Windows development isn't as easy as it used to be. C++ has always been the best choice for commercial development, but today's overburdened developers lack the time and patience for C++'s code-compile-debug cycle, made endless by leaks and potholes unwittingly written into the code. Even though Windows C++ programming has gotten easier (what was as unpleasant as a root canal is now a mere poke in the eye), Internet-time scheduling leaves no slack for programmers to fight with their tools.

Note: For more on C#, see the sidebar, "Building the Distributed Enterprise."

TEXTBOX:

TEXTBOX_HEAD: The Bottom Line

Microsoft C# public prebeta

Business Case
C# simplifies programmers' access to system services while making custom applications less error-prone. C# will eventually be a multiplatform, standards-based alternative to Java, but for the time being it is a smarter, safer C++ for Windows.

Technology Case
The .Net layer interconnects VB, JavaScript, C++, and C# code so well that .Net project leaders can fearlessly mix code written in different languages.

Pros

  • Language specification managed by ECMA
  • Access to broad set of object-oriented system services
  • Interpreted, runtime compiled/precompiled executables


Cons

  • Significant performance, overhead penalties compared to compiled C++
  • No announced road map for migration beyond Windows


Cost
Not announced

Platforms
Public beta runs only on Windows 2000

Ship Date No projected commercial availability date

Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash.; (800) 426-9400

:END_TEXTBOX

Compared to C++, Java offers shorter development cycles, safer code, and cross-platform execution. Java is not ideal, being a sharp departure from C++ and generally fitting Windows like a foot in a glove, but Java seems the only smart choice for enterprise projects.

The defection of Windows developers to Java wasn't lost on Microsoft, which hurriedly released a public prebeta of the .Net SDK (software development kit). This 86 MB download is a working preview of what Windows will become, and it includes a compiler for C#, a new programming language pronounced "C sharp."

This Microsoft-devised variant of C++ is relief for beleaguered Windows C++ developers. Unlike C++, and certainly unlike Java, C# provides easy access to native Windows services, including networked objects, UIs, and Internet communication. Like Java, C# greatly enhances stability by preventing common programming errors and automatically managing resources.

If you already know C++, C# is much easier to learn than Java. C# is a standards-track language, managed not by Microsoft but by the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA), the same independent body that looks after JavaScript. And although the prebeta doesn't even hint at it, Microsoft has telegraphed its intent to plant .Net and C# on non-Windows platforms.

Critics warn that C# and .Net are only prebeta, the first tiny step beyond vaporware. Even though it is not cleared for production use, we've been working with C# constantly for almost a month, and the prebeta works so well that some shipping compilers we've used. In fact, the compiler works well enough that developers are already swapping C# code on Usenet and Web forums such as Csharpindex.com (see Resources).

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For more enterprise computing news, visit InfoWorld. Story copyright InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.

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