Comparing .NET to Java

If you know anything about Java, by the time you have reached this point in this chapter, you are probably thinking that .NET sounds like Microsoft just created its own version of Java. To some extent, that is an accurate assessment of .NET. There are some important differences though between the .NET architecture and Java. This sidebar summarizes the important similarities and differences.

Let's start by clearing up some misconceptions about Java. People often refer to Java as a single entity when it is really composed of three distinct (and largely independent) pieces of technology:

  1. The Java programming language— Sun Microsystems defined a simple, object-oriented language that borrows most of the syntax of C++, but eschews ...

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