So, having had worked at a great product development company for the past 4 1/2 years in VB6 and only getting to dabble in .NET when I could talk them into it, I’ve finally been blessed with a job that is aligned with my desires in .NET!
While I’ve built a handful of solutions, both webform and winform since 2001, they have all been in VB.NET. I’m going to try and push cold turkey and just switch to C#. Why?
Here’s what I can come up with:
- C# is “closer” to the .NET Framework - much of .NET framework was in C# and the whole experience is cleaner. I’m a control freak is the bottom line.
- C# is closer to Javascript - I’m planning on web programming, and jumping in and out of brackets and the like is just something I’m feeling too lazy for
- C# has huge momentum in the Software Engineering community - having MORE resources by industry experts, not just in the Microsoft camp is how I’d like to build software. Also, it seems that more open source projects run in the C# space than VB.NET (purely subjective).
- C# in Visual Studio 2k3 has better architect tools (i.e. code comments). Yes I know about the VB.NET add-in.
- Easier to share, debate - VB.NET still has a hobbyist aura. I’m anything but a hobbyist, but I grow tired of spending time on qualifications when discussing ideas.
- C# to VB.NET conversion is actually easier to me. Sure, I could read C# and convert to VB.NET. VB.NET does some things during compile time anyway that is more declarative (see #1) and I just don’t want any more tools that hide that stuff.
- Intellisense wins every time. Since I’m in Visual Studio .NET, it’s not like I’ll have “extra” typing to do. Here we go!
I promise not to become a C# biggot.