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Thread: C# have more "tools" available?

  1. #1

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    C# have more "tools" available?

    I was talking with someone the other day about transitioning to C# from VB.NET. I was under the impression that C# essentially has the same framework and tools available that VB.NET does, yet the person I was having the conversation with insisted that there are more "Tools and Libraries" for C# (From a Microsoft .NET Framework and Visual Studio perspective, I am not talking 3rd party. Is this actually the case?

  2. #2
    Super Moderator jmcilhinney's Avatar
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    Re: C# have more "tools" available?

    Not really. With regards to libraries, there is no such thing as a library for C# or a library for VB. A .NET library is a .NET library and usable by all .NET languages. The vast majority of the .NET Framework was written in C# and yet you use those libraries in your VB apps every day. There are some small parts that were written in VB for VB, e.g. PowerPacks and TextFieldParser, but those can be used in C# projects too.

    In other areas, there are some things done for C# specifically. That includes various code samples, that will generally be done for C# first and maybe not for VB at all. There may also be some tools or technologies that are C#-specific. For instance, XNA supported only C# to begin with and I'm not sure that full VB support ever actually materialised. I've never used XNA myself though, so I'm not sure of that. Microsoft have some time back committed to parity between the two languages though, so they should move apace technology-wise.

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    Super Moderator FunkyDexter's Avatar
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    Re: C# have more "tools" available?

    I made a conscious effort to move across a few years back and I honestly can't think of a single thing that c# has and VB didn't. JM mentioned code samples which is probably true but converting them is trivial. You might find a few other areas where stuff appears in c# briefly before vb but they tend to be edge cases and vb always seems to follow within an iteration.

    I think your colleague needs to give some concrete examples.
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    Super Moderator jmcilhinney's Avatar
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    Re: C# have more "tools" available?

    Quote Originally Posted by FunkyDexter View Post
    I think your colleague needs to give some concrete examples.
    I'd agree with that. I think they've just been sucked in and believed what someone else has said or implied. VB is still considered a second-class citizen by many but it's not really. Unless they can tell you what VB lacks, they're not really worth listening to.

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    Re: C# have more "tools" available?

    As far as I can recall the major differences had to do with how quickly new intrinsic language features were added. At one time C# tended to get some things before VB.Net, and to a lesser extent vice-versa.

    But they've pretty much been at parity for a long time now.

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    Re: C# have more "tools" available?

    AFAIK C# still doesn't have XML literals and VB.NET doesn't have unsafe pointers. So what differences there are, are trivial.

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    Superbly Moderated NeedSomeAnswers's Avatar
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    Re: C# have more "tools" available?

    I made a conscious effort to move across a few years back and I honestly can't think of a single thing that c# has and VB didn't.
    The only area i know of real difference is that VB.Net doesn't allow the use of 'unsafe' code where as C# does.
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  8. #8
    Superbly Moderated NeedSomeAnswers's Avatar
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    Re: C# have more "tools" available?

    AFAIK C# still doesn't have XML literals and VB.NET doesn't have unsafe pointers. So what differences there are, are trivial.
    What he said
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  9. #9
    Angel of Code Niya's Avatar
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    Re: C# have more "tools" available?

    Quote Originally Posted by jmcilhinney View Post
    For instance, XNA supported only C# to begin with and I'm not sure that full VB support ever actually materialised.
    XNA can be used with VB, it just doesn't have a template for VB projects, only C#. To use XNA in VB you have to manually add the assemblies.
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  10. #10
    Karen Payne MVP kareninstructor's Avatar
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    Re: C# have more "tools" available?

    As mentioned already there are really not more tools for C# than VB.NET. There is only one thing that I used in C# over VB.NET which is an IDE extension Code Maid.

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