Managed C++ or C#

Garth Watkins

Well so far it seems as if the general consesus is on going the C# route. Thanks for the comments

Paul Watson

What do you develop? For us web-developers, C# and ASP.NET is a no-brainer (I am not referring to the LAMP crowd.) For WinApp developers though .NET is a tougher decision. regards, Paul Watson South Africa The Code Project

Marc Clifton

Well, here's my 2c. The Managed C++ syntax is awful. The .NET framework is nice, but it lacks a lot of things that are basically second nature in MFC. I haven't written a single serious app yet that doesn't require some P/Invoke somewhere because .NET fails to provide some necessary functionality. C# is easy to learn. Knowing both, you can pick which language and framework best meets your needs. Marc MyXaml Advanced Unit Testing

Nish Nishant

Paul Watson wrote: I am not referring to the LAMP crowd What's LAMP, Paul?

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Nish Nishant

Marc Clifton wrote: The Managed C++ syntax is awful Shouldn't that be "was awful", Marc? The new C++/CLI syntax is far superior to the old syntax and is at par with C# as a first class CLI language. Marc Clifton wrote: I haven't written a single serious app yet that doesn't require some P/Invoke somewhere because .NET fails to provide some necessary functionality. Same here :-)

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Paul Watson

It stands for Linux Apache MySQL and Perl. I think Lauren is quite into it. regards, Paul Watson South Africa The Code Project

Nish Nishant

Paul Watson wrote: It stands for Linux Apache MySQL and Perl. I think Lauren is quite into it. Oh okay, thanks.

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Daniel Turini

Nishant S wrote: What's LAMP, Paul? L inux A pache M ySql P erl/PHP Yes, even I am blogging now!

Nish Nishant

raymonxo wrote: Please explain how Managed C++ is more powerful when developing in a purely managed environment . I don't believe this to be true. See :- C++: The Most Powerful Language for .NET Framework Programming[^]

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Nish Nishant

raymonxo wrote: C# has a much cleaner syntax than C++; this will be especially true with .NET 2.0 features such as generics. C++/CLI not only supports generics but also supports templates with managed and unmanaged types giving programmers more options. Nish

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Daniel Turini

Nishant S wrote: Shouldn't that be "was awful", Marc? No: it is awful, until MS releases the new C++. While we can play and test with the beta version of the new VS, it's at least irresponsible developing a production software with a beta product which the maker (MS) admits to have tons of bugs and reduced performance due to presence of debugging code. Yes, even I am blogging now!

Nish Nishant

Daniel Turini wrote: While we can play and test with the beta version of the new VS, it's at least irresponsible developing a production software with a beta product which the maker (MS) admits to have tons of bugs and reduced performance due to presence of debugging code. Point conceded. Nish

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Nemanja Trifunovic

The real problem with Managed C++ is that they are rewriting it from scratch, and there is no point in learning it now (I did, and now I am pissed off, but who cares?). As for the "horrible syntax", I've heard this complaint mostly from people who have never really used MC++ (in real projects). Yes it is ugly, but C-like languages have ugly syntax in general; if you are very concerned about syntax, learn Delphi or Python. As for C#, personally I don't like it at all, but I use it whenever I am told to use it and whenever it makes sense to use it (ASP.NET, for instance). To sum up: you have three real choices: 1) Learn C# now. 2) Wait for VS 2005 and then learn Managed C++ (or C++/CLI how they call it now). 3) Learn C# now and Managed C++ when VS 2005 is released. My vote goes for 3)

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jan larsen

Nishant S wrote: C++/CLI not only supports generics but also supports templates with managed and unmanaged types giving programmers more options. The new C# version also supports generics... "After all it's just text at the end of the day. - Colin Davies "For example, when a VB programmer comes to my house, they may say 'does your pool need cleaning, sir ?' " - Christian Graus

Marc Clifton

Nishant S wrote: Shouldn't that be "was awful", Marc? I was going to reply, but Daniel said it all. Marc MyXaml Advanced Unit Testing

Nish Nishant

jan larsen wrote: The new C# version also supports generics... Yes it does, Jan, but then I never said it didn't, did I? :-) My post was a reply to a comment that said C# supported generics in 2.0.

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Roland Bar

I prefer C# as the managed C++ code with its macros looks really ugly ... And C# was made for the .net framework ... Greets Roland

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adrian cooper

Personally i would stick with C++. Its like this, if your at home with C++, then i would invest take a look at the new C++/CLI. The boys at Microsoft seem to be doing some good work over there and have cleaning up the synatax from the old MC++. Plus you get to keep the toolset youve built up using the very powerful standard template library via STL.NET. Then theres deterministic destruction c++ way!! yes you get to write destructors and get the ability to put Managed types on the stack! how cool is that! Basically your getting everything you can do in C# plus loads more goodies! And coupled with the new style syntax you'd be silly not to check it out. I think you can download a beta of the C++/CLI Express compiler too from the msdn website. Its deffo gets my thumbs up, and i can't wait! :) ade me; while(myKitchen.beerInFridge()) { me.watchTV(); me.consumeBeer(myKitchen.getBeerCan()); }

adrian cooper

this is so cool.. deffo is the best of both worlds, as there are differences between templates and generics. for example generics dont allow non-type parameters and doesnt have the ability for user-defined specialization! But having the ability to choose between the two in C++ is the jackpot! Bring home the goodness!!! ade me; while(myKitchen.beerInFridge()) { me.watchTV(); me.consumeBeer(myKitchen.getBeerCan()); }

adrian cooper

dont forget if you stick with C++ you additionally get to keep the for_each algorithm too, along with all the other powerful C++ STL algorithms! ade me; while(myKitchen.beerInFridge()) { me.watchTV(); me.consumeBeer(myKitchen.getBeerCan()); }