MIGRATING FROM
C# TO JAVA
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
Content
1. What is C#? ................................................................................................................ 3
Features of C# ............................................................................................................... 3
2. What is JAVA?............................................................................................................ 4
Features of Java ............................................................................................................ 4
3. Advantages and disadvantages ................................................................................. 5
Advantages of C# .......................................................................................................... 5
Disadvantages of C# ...................................................................................................... 5
Advantages of Java ....................................................................................................... 5
Disadvantages of Java ................................................................................................... 5
4. Key differences between C# and JAVA ..................................................................... 6
4.1. Main Function .................................................................................................... 6
4.2. Print statements ................................................................................................ 6
4.3. Constants ........................................................................................................... 7
4.4. Inheritance ......................................................................................................... 7
4.5. Polymorphism & Overriding / Overloading ....................................................... 7
4.6. Multiple Classes in a Single File ......................................................................... 8
4.7. Primitive Types................................................................................................... 9
4.8. Strings ................................................................................................................ 9
4.9. Array Declaration ............................................................................................... 9
4.10. Switch Statements........................................................................................ 10
4.11. Importing Libraries ....................................................................................... 10
4.12. Properties ..................................................................................................... 10
4.13. Pass by Reference ........................................................................................ 11
4.14. Exception handling ....................................................................................... 12
5. Activities .................................................................................................................. 12
6. Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 12
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Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
1. What is C#?
Developed by Microsoft around 2000, as its .NET initiative, C# is a multi-paradigm
programming language. It offers programming disciplines like strongly typed,
lexically, scoped, generic, object-oriented, and component-oriented. C# is one of
the programming languages that is designed for the CLI (Common Language
Infrastructure).
The language was soon declared as an international languages standard by ECMA
and ISO with the following design goals:
The language is intended to be a modern, simple, object-oriented
programming language.
C# implementations provide support for software engineering principles.
Principles such as array bounds checking, garbage collection, and more.
The language offers portability and thus can be executed on different
platforms.
C# provides support for internationalization.
Applications for both embedded systems and OS are supported by C#
Features of C#
It was derived from C++ and Java.
It is part of Microsoft Visual Studio
Simple
o No pointers
o No operators like “::” or “->”
o Varying ranges of primitive types.
o Memory management and garbage collection is automatic and
does not need explicit code.
Modern
o Built according to the current trend.
o Powerful, scalable, robust.
o Any component can be turned into a web service with built-in
support.
Object-Oriented
o Supports OOP concepts such as inheritance, encapsulation,
polymorphism, interfaces, etc.
o C# introduces structures enabling primitive types to become
objects.
Type-Safe
o It does not allow us to perform unsafe casts.
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Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
o Reference types are initialized to null and value types are
initialized to zero by the compiler automatically.
o Arrays are bound checked and are zero-based indexed.
Interoperability
o Includes native support for the COM and windows based
applications.
o Components from VB NET can directly be used in C#.
2. What is JAVA?
Developed by Sun Microsystems and designed by James Gosling in 1995, Java is
a class-based, object-oriented multi-paradigm language. It is designed with the
WORA concept i.e. Write Once Run Anywhere and thus is called platform-
independent language. Applications in Java are compiled to bytecode that can
run execute on any JVM regardless of its underlying OS and architecture. It offers
its applications in web development and other Android-based software for
several devices. High-level applications of Java include embedded systems,
desktop, and applications. Devices such as smartphones, ATMs, home security
systems and more are all supported by Java.
Primary goals of Java:
It must be simple and object-oriented.
It must be robust and secure.
It must execute the high performance.
It must be interpreted, threaded, and dynamic.
Features of Java
Simple: It has a simple syntax and is easy to learn.
Object-Oriented: It follows OOPs concepts such as inheritance,
abstraction, polymorphism, encapsulation.
Robust: Java offers Memory Management and mishandled Exceptions by
automatic Garbage Collector and Exception Handling.
Platform Independent: It follows its WORA functionality by running its
applications on any platform with JRE's help (Java Runtime Environment)
Secure, Java's stable features enable us to develop a virus-free, temper
free system.
Multithreading: Java multithreading designs a program to do several
tasks simultaneously. Thus, it utilizes the same memory and other
resources to execute multiple threads at the same time.
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Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
Architectural Neutral: The compiler generates bytecodes, which is
independent of computer architecture.
High Performance: Java enables high performance with the use of a
just-in-time compiler.
Distributed: Programs can be designed to run on computer networks.
3. Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of C#
C# provides lambda and generics support.
Language-Integrated Query (LINQ).
The language has secure extension methods.
Properties with getting/set methods.
Memory management.
Best in class cross-platform support.
Backward compatibility.
Disadvantages of C#
Poor GUI.
The application must be windows based as C# is an internal part of the
.NET framework.
Software is proprietary, so it requires an upfront purchase.
C# mostly depends on the .Net framework, and so is less flexible.
C# executes slowly, and the program needs to be compiled each time
when any changes are made.
Advantages of Java
It provides detailed documentation.
The large pool of skilled developers available.
Java allows developing standard programs and reusable code.
It offers a multi-threaded environment.
Excellent and high performance.
A huge array of 3rd party libraries.
Easy to navigate libraries.
Disadvantages of Java
JIT compiler makes the program low.
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Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
The hardware of maintaining Java programs is high, as Java demands
high memory and processing requirements.
The language does not provide any support for low-level programming
constructs like pointers.
The user has no control over garbage collection as Java does not provide
functions like delete(), free().
4. Key differences between C# and
JAVA
4.1. Main Function
C#:
static void Main(string[] args)
string is shorthand for the System.String class in C#. Another interesting
point is that in C#, your Main method can actually be declared to be parameter-
less
static void Main()
Java:
public static void main(String[] args)
4.2. Print statements
C#:
System.Console.WriteLine("Hello world!"); or
Console.WriteLine("Hello again!");
Java:
System.out.println("Hello world!");
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Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
4.3. Constants
C#:
To declare constants in C# the const keyword is used for compile time constants
while the readonly keyword is used for runtime constants. The semantics of
constant primitives and object references in C# is the same as in Java.
const int K = 100;
Java:
In Java, compile-time constant values are declared inside a class using the
keyword final:
static final int K = 100;
4.4. Inheritance
C# uses C++ syntax for inheritance, both for class inheritance and interface
implementation as opposed to the extends and implements keywords.
C#:
class B:A, IComparable
{
…………
}
Java:
class B extends A implements IComparable
{
……………
}
4.5. Polymorphism & Overriding / Overloading
The means of implementing polymorphism typically involves having methods in
a base class that may be overridden by derived classes. These methods can be
invoked even though the client has a reference to a base class type which points
to an object of the derived class. Such methods are bound at runtime instead of
being bound during compilation and are typically called virtual methods.
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Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
In Java all methods are virtual methods while in C#, as in C++, one must explicitly
state which methods one wants to be virtual since by default they are not.
To mark a method as virtual in C#, one uses the virtual keyword. Also,
implementers of a child class can decide to either explicitly override the virtual
method by using the override keyword or explicitly choose not to by using the
new keyword instead
Example:
using System;
public class Parent {
public virtual void DoStuff(string str) {
Console.WriteLine("In Parent.DoStuff: " + str);
}
}
public class Child: Parent {
public void DoStuff(int n) {
Console.WriteLine("In Child.DoStuff: " + n);
}
public override void DoStuff(string str) {
Console.WriteLine("In Child.DoStuff: " + str);
}
public new void DoStuff(string str)
}
To call a base class method, you use the keyword base in C# and super in
Java.
4.6. Multiple Classes in a Single File
Multiple classes can be defined in a single file in both languages with some
significant differences.
In Java, there can only be one class per source file that has public access and it
must have the same name as the source file.
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Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
C# does not have a restriction on the number of public classes that can exist in a
source file and neither is there a requirement for the name of any of the classes
in the file to match that of the source file.
4.7. Primitive Types
In Java, all integer primitive types (byte, short, int, long) are signed by default.
In C# there are both signed and unsigned varieties of these types:
Unsigned Signed Size
byte sbyte 8 bits
ushort short 16 bits
uint int 32 bits
ulong long 64 bits
The only significantly different primitive in C# is the decimal type, a type which
stores decimal numbers without rounding errors. Eg:
decimal dec = 100.44m;
4.8. Strings
Java does not allow operator overloading. Thus, the following valid sentence in
C#:
String myString;
if ( myString == “value” )
It’s not valid in Java. Instead, we have to use the equals method:
if ( myString.equals( “value” ) )
4.9. Array Declaration
Java has two ways in which one can declare an array:
int[] iArray = new int[100]; //valid
float fArray[] = new float[100]; //valid
C# uses only the latter array declaration syntax:
int[] iArray = new int[100]; //valid
float fArray[] = new float[100]; //ERROR: Won't compile
IES Mare Nostrum Page 9 / 12
Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
4.10. Switch Statements
There are two major differences between the switch statement in C# versus that
in Java. In C#, switch statements support the use of string literals and do not allow
fall-through unless the label contains no statements.
switch(foo) {
case "A": Console.WriteLine("A seen");
break;
case "B": case "C":
Console.WriteLine("B or C seen");
break;
/* ERROR: Won't compile due to fall-through at case "D" */
case "D": Console.WriteLine("D seen");
case "E": Console.WriteLine("E seen");
break;
4.11. Importing Libraries
Both languages support this functionality and C# follows Java’s technique for
importing libraries:
C#: using keyword
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Reflection;
Java: import keyword
import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
4.12. Properties
Properties are a way to abstract away from directly accessing the members of a
class, similar to how accessors (getters) and modifiers (setters) are used in Java.
IES Mare Nostrum Page 10 / 12
Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
Particularly for read/write properties, C# provides a cleaner way of handling this
concept. The relationship between a get and set method is inherent in C#, while
has to be maintained in Java.
It is possible to create, read-only, write-only or read-write properties depending
on if the getter and setter are implemented or not.
C#:
public int Size {
get { return size; }
set { size = value; }
}
Or
public int Size {
get -> size;
set -> size = value;
}
Java:
public int getSize() {
return size;
}
public void setSize ( int value ) {
size = value;
}
4.13. Pass by Reference
In Java the arguments to a method are passed by value meaning that a method
operates on copies of the items passed to it instead of on the actual items.
In C#, it is possible to specify that the arguments to a method actually be
references.
In Java trying to return multiple values from a method is not supported.
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Jose R. García Sevilla
Data Access Unit 1 – Migrating from C# to JAVA
4.14. Exception handling
Both C# and Java include an exception handling mechanism, but while C# only
handles unchecked exceptions, JAVA supports both checked and unchecked. You
can learn more about the JAVA handling mechanism here:
https://beginnersbook.com/2013/04/java-checked-unchecked-exceptions-
withexamples/
5. Activities
1. Download the .cs files (C#) in the platform . You should translate them to
English (that’s to say, name of methods/properties/members/variables,
and then convert them into JAVA format (the easiest way to do that is to
paste them into a new project/file in IntelliJ IDEA and compile to detect
the differences between C# and JAVA.
2. In exercise 2, add two more classes: AlumnoFCT and AlumnoErasmus. Both
of them must inherit from Alumno. AlumnoFCT will have three specific
attributes: empresa, tutor e instructor (the three of them are strings).
AlumnoErasmus will have the starting and ending date of the internship,
and the origin country.
3. (Optional) Modify the form in exercise 2 to add the two new types of
students.
6. Bibliography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_C_Sharp_and_Java
https://www.janbasktraining.com/blog/java-vs-c-sharp/
https://hackr.io/blog/c-sharp-vs-java
https://www.educba.com/java-vs-c-sharp/
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/java-vs-c-sharp/
https://beginnersbook.com/ (JAVA Tutorials)
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Jose R. García Sevilla
