Java vs C# – Difference Between Them

Key Difference Between Java and C#

  • Java runs on the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) whereas C# is designed to be run on the Common Language Runtime (CLR).
  • Java is a class-based Object Oriented language whereas C# is Object-Oriented, functional, strong typing, component-oriented.
  • Java doesn’t support for operator overloading whereas C# provides operator overloading for multiple operators.
  • Java does not support pointers while C# supports pointer only in an unsafe mode.
  • In Java, Arrays are a direct specialization of Object whereas arrays in C# are a specialization of System.

What is Java?

Java was released by Sun Microsystem in 1995. It was developed by James Gosling. It is a general-purpose programming language which was designed with a specific goal of allowing developers to write once run anywhere. Java application is compiled into bytecode that can run on any implementation of the Java Virtual Machine or JVM.

What is C#

C# is an object-oriented programming language, developed by Microsoft that runs on .Net Framework.

The name “C sharp” was inspired by musical notations. Here ‘#’ symbol indicates that the written note must be made a semitone which is higher in pitch.

History of Java

What is C#
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The Java language was initially called OAK. Originally, it was developed for handling devices and set-top boxes. Oak was a big failure. However, in 1995 Sun changed the name to Java and modified the language to take the benefit of the expanding World Wide Web development business.

14 years later, in 2009, Oracle Corporation acquired Sun Microsystems and took ownership of two of their products Java and Solaris.

History of C#

Anders Hejlsberg is the key contributor to C# language development. In 1999, he built a team to develop a new language which was then called “Cool.”. The project was approved and announced in July 2000 at the.Net Developers Conference. The language was later renamed as C#.

Characteristic of Java

  • A multi-platform, object-oriented, network-centric, programming language
  • Java can run on almost any computer platform Network-centric
  • It is designed for building object-oriented online applications.
  • It helps you to integrate object-oriented programming model.

Characteristics of C#

Characteristics of C#

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Here, is the list of few important characteristics of C# programming language:

  • Support for automatic Garbage Collection
  • Offers Standard Library
  • Assembly Versioning
  • Conditional Compilation
  • Simple Multithreading
  • Lambda and LINQ Expressions
  • Integration with Windows

Difference between Java and C#

Difference between Java and C#

Parameters Java C#
Creation Designed by Sun Microsystems. Designed as part of Microsoft’s .NET initiative.
Ecosystem Has a huge opensource ecosystem. Used to develop software for Microsoft platforms.
Support for generics It is implemented using erasures and casts added upon compilation into bytecode. Integrated into the CLI and allows type information to be available at runtime
Support for delegates Requires use of an interface to achieve similar functionality. Has delegates which serve as methods that can be called without knowledge of target object.
Checked exceptions Only has one type of exception Distinguishes between checked and unchecked exceptions
Polymorphism Invokes the “virtual” keyword in a base class and “override” keyword in a derived class. Enables polymorphism by default.
Designed for Java programming language is intended to be run on a Java platform, by the help of Java Runtime Environment (JRE). The C# programming language is designed to be run on the Common Language Runtime (CLR).
Safety type Java type safety is safe. C# type of safety is unsafe.
Built-in Datatype Built-in data types that are passed by value are called simple types. Built-in data types that are passed by value are known as primitive types.
Arrays Arrays in Java are a direct specialization of Object. Arrays in C# are a specialization of System.
Support for conditional compilation. Java doesn’t provide support for conditional compilation C# supports conditional compilation feature with the help of preprocessor directives.
Support for Goto statement. Java doesn’t support the goto statement. C# supports the goto statement.
Structure and unions Java doesn’t support structures and unions. C# supports structures and unions.
Suited for For concurrency and complex project. It is mainly suited for game app development projects.
Installation Requires JDK to run Java. .Net framework provides a vast library of codes used by C#
Cross-platform support Java is highly cross-platform with its byte code. Compared to Java, C# need to improve on this feature.
IDE Eclipse, NetBeans, IntelliJ IDEA Visual Studio, MonoDevelop
Operator Overloading No support for operator overloading C# provides support for operator overloading for multiple operators.
Number of Public Classes In Java, there is an only a single public class inside source code, or it will display compilation error. In C#, there are multiple public classes included in the source code.
Control for API It is controlled by an open community process. Microsoft controls C# API.
Runtime Environment Java supports JVM(Java Virtual Machine). C# supports CLR(Common Language Runtime).
Platform Dependency Java is a robust and platform independent language. Code written in C# is windows specific.
Pointers Java does not support pointers. In C# you can use pointer only in an unsafe mode.
Floating point Java supports strctfp keyword that means it results for a floating point will be the same for different platform. C# does not offer support for strictfp keyword. This means that the result of floating point numbers may not be guaranteed to be the same across all platforms.
TIOBE Index 1 6
Famous companies using Airbnb, Instagram, Spotify, Netflix, etc. Stack Exchange, Microsoft, Coderus, Docplanner, etc.
Salary Range The average salary earned by Java Developer is $102,633 per year in the United States. The average salary for “C# sharp developer” is approximately $108,145 per year.

Advantages of Using Java

Here, are pros/benefits of using Java-

  • Detailed Documentation is available.
  • The large pool of skilled developers available
  • Allows you to form standard programs and reusable code.
  • It is a multi-threaded environment which allows you to perform many tasks at the same time in a program.
  • Excellent performance
  • Huge array of 3rd party libraries
  • Easy to navigate libraries

Advantages of Using C#

Here, are pros/benefits for using C#

  • Offers proper lambda and generics support
  • Backed by Microsoft Corporation
  • Language Integrated Query (LINQ)
  • Easy extension methods
  • Automatic garbage collection
  • Properties with getting/set methods
  • Automated memory management
  • Backward Compatibility

Disadvantages of Using Java

Here, are cons for using Java-

  • JIT compiler makes the program comparatively slow.
  • Java has high memory and processing requirements. Therefore hardware cost increases.
  • No support for low-level programming constructs like pointers.
  • You don’t have any control over garbage collection as Java does not provide functions like delete(), free().

Disadvantages of Using C#

Here, are the cons of using C#

  • Poor GUI
  • .NET applications are written in the C#, F#, or Visual Basic programming language.
  • C# is less flexible as it mostly depends on the .Net framework.
  • The code in C# compiled every time when changes are made.
  • High learning curve