.Net Strategy

[mbdw6708]

Wanted to know what people thought of Microsofts .Net strategy. What I know of Microsoft, they are really making a drastic switching basing everything on XML. How will this affect all the other companies that follow microsoft.
Dave

http://www.supplychaintoday.com

 

[culshaja]

As a developer I think that Microsoft is on the ball. XML has become the rosetta stone of the IT world. How do I get data from one system to another that don't understand each other - ah, output it using XML!
Microsoft has been slowly but surely building XML into its products and tools for quite some time, but they haven't been as overt as they have now.
.Net is more than XML though, its about distributed computing - you can create web-services, you build a component and publish it on a server and another componet can utilise it from half way round the world. There is a lot more to it that I don't fully understand but I find it all VERY exciting.

James James Culshaw
jculshaw@active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.brainbench.com/transcript.jsp?pid=193305

 

[jnicho02]

I think that Microsoft is running about 100 yards behind the ball. A while ago the ball got thrown forwards to the receiver (Sun) who had made a darting forward run by bringing out Java. With the introduction of J2EE the Java Enterprise Edition (Enterprise Java Beans, Servlets, Java Server Pages) and the easy use of Java over TCP/IP and with CORBA, they forged well ahead.

Microsoft pushed for COM and DCOM, but CORBA has been widely accepted as (yet again) it is not tied to a particular vendor. They have now effectively ditched COM and changed tack (again!).

If you're using Microsoft stuff heavily then you may be in for a recode! and maybe in a new language C#....good luck with the learning. My Home -->

http://www.geocities.com/jnicho02/

 

[culshaja]

I'm not so sure about that. Its the age old agruement of Microsoft vs the rest of the world, and it is obvious that Microsoft does have a large developer base around the worl and a lot of solutions built using Micrsoft technology.
If we are talking about alternatives then if I am being honest then I think Oracle is the guiding light. With the release of Oracle 8i, their whole focus shifted to web enabled their complete product range. I think we should lokk at them as the model.

James James Culshaw
jculshaw@active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.brainbench.com/transcript.jsp?pid=193305

 

[jnicho02]

Okay, but the power of Oracle8i is built using Java isn't it? More so when you get into 9i....Lots of the Oracle offering can be viewed as a Java Application Server, i.e. bundling ready-made bits of Java code with a pwoerful back-end database. My Home -->

http://www.geocities.com/jnicho02/

 

[culshaja]

I never denied the power of Java. I've been an advocate of Java since 1995. All I am saying is that Microsoft has made the right choice with its .Net strategy and it whole-hearted embrace of XML!

James James Culshaw
jculshaw@active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.brainbench.com/transcript.jsp?pid=193305

 

[jnicho02]

James, I agree with your statement about XML.

But I don't believe that the .Net strategy is completely on-the-ball...

It's early days yet, and I need to look at the proposal fully. The use of C# worried me, because MSoft's main lever is normally their large installed base of VB programmers. This was how things like ActiveX and ASP caught on, not necessarily through technical superiority but by force of numbers (VHS vs Betamax?). My Home -->

http://www.geocities.com/jnicho02/

 

[culshaja]

Yeah,
I have to agree with you there. I am a bit worried about C# pushing Java out of the way. I know there are a lot of Java programmers out there but there are a LOT of Microsoft platforms and those are likely to shift to C#, epsecially if the Java support has been removed, and even more so if Managers are involved in decisions as the less technical ones are more likely to be swayed by Microsoft sales pitch.

James James Culshaw
jculshaw@active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.brainbench.com/transcript.jsp?pid=193305

 

[jnicho02]

C# is of course paperware at the moment. Java is a maturing language... although looking at early analysis articles on javaworld.com the two are extremely similar. If I was a teacher I'd think that they'd been someone had been looking at someone else's test paper.

Could be something to do with that lawsuit that Sun slapped on Microsoft when they tried to 'extend' Java.

If you can't beat them...create your own version and call it the standard. My Home -->

http://www.geocities.com/jnicho02/

 

[mbdw6708]

I posted this message on September 5, 2000 and now think people will have a greater opinion on the subject. Any opinions out there??
Dave Waters

http://www.supplychaintoday.com

 

[Jjackstraw]

I am a VB programmer with 3-5 years experience. I don't know Java. I have seen it and it scares me. The thought or learning something that huge which is different then what I am used to is an intimidating task.
I have been using .NET for 3 months, and I am thrilled at the chance to be able to do real programming with something I already have a basic understanding of. Granted, the language has changed a lot, and I am "re-learning" some of it.
From a VB programmer's perspective .NET has given me a chance to get away from the Cookie Cutter programming and delve into something much more powerful. And for that I am proud to call myself a VB.NET programmer.

World Peace through the .NET framework!
-John Geoghan
Consultant
York, PA

 

[culshaja]

Interesting that you say that you are scared of Java and not VB.Net.

I have shifted from VB to C#, and the biggest learning curve is the actual .Net framework. Thats huge, and has lots of power. Its the Microsoft equivalent to the Java libraries.

Its the .Net framework that gives the .Net development platform its power and flexability. The choice of language is really irrelavent these days. I think you would be surprised if you take another, deeper look into Java after going through the transition into the .Net framework.

James James Culshaw
jculshaw@active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.active-data-solutions.co.uk

http://www.brainbench.com/transcript.jsp?pid=193305

 

[Jjackstraw]

James,
You are probably right. I would be better able to understand java now as a direct result of my VB.NET experience. That is just what I meant. I now feel as though I am a "real" programmer capable of low level high tech processes I wouldn't have approached a year ago. Microsoft gave me a transition that was easier because of my handle on the basic syntax of the language. I feel I can learn C# easily now. And I am sure I have a better grasp of low level processes then I did before. Where VB6 hid these from you (If you could do them at all), VB.NET shows you how they work and makes understanding them easier to boot.

-John Geoghan
Consultant
York, PA

 

[jimbopalmer]

i have a simple .net strategy : Microsoft = Viruses, the more MS you have, the more viruses you can get. Even Bill know recognizes this. I tried to remain child-like, all I acheived was childish.