Is C# similar to Java?

Alex Rivers

Many people wonder if C# and Java are similar or not. It is believed that C# has more in common with Java and was inspired by C++.

C# & Java

C# is an object-oriented, modern programming language that is used for general purposes. It is pronounced as ‘C Sharp’. It was designed by  Anders Hejlsberg at Microsoft along with Mads Torgersen, who developed it. It was inspired by C++. C# is used for developing desktop applications. It is even used for game development and web development. It is very easy to learn as it is a high-level programming language and is very similar to C, C++, and Java.

Java is also an object-oriented programming language and is very popular. It was developed by Sun Microsystems in 1995. The Java code is first converted into bytecode and then it later runs in JVM (Java Virtual Machine ). It is used for mobile development, web development, client-server applications, enterprise applications, etc.

Similarities between C# and Java

The reasons why they are called similar are because of the following reasons:

  • They both are statically and strongly typed.
  • They both are object-oriented.
  • They both are designed with semi-interpretation or runtime just-in-time.
  • They both use curly braces.
  • They both have an inbuilt compiler to compile the bytecode.
  • They throw an exception at compile time.
  • To remove data redundancy, they both use inheritance.
  • Both support the concept of garbage collection.
  • They are believed to be syntactically similar.

While they show similarities in some of their functionalities, they do possess some differences too.

Differences between C# and Java

Here are the differences between the two programming languages:

  • C# supports CLR, which stands for Common Language Runtime. Java, on the other hand, supports JVM, which is Java Virtual Machine.
  • C# allows several public classes within the source code. In Java, there can only be one public class inside the source code.
  • Since it is cross-platform, C# can run on any OS, such as Windows and Unix. Java is a platform-independent programming language. One needs JVM to run their code.
  • Java does not support structures and unions but C# does.
  • You can use goto statements in C# but not in Java. It will not be able to comprehend it and throw an error.
  • C# does not support checked exceptions. Java supports both, checked and unchecked exceptions.

Which one is better?

C# and Java are incomparable. Both are important and necessary for developing certain software and applications. Unity, a gaming company, uses C# to develop its games. Many developers use this language for game development at Unity. The entire community uses and supports C#. It is a major language for them.

Java is used by many companies like Goldman Sachs, eBay and more. Java also handles complex computing and is used in scientific supercomputers. Java is one of the most preferred programming languages in the world for decades. There is no replacement for it yet.

So, both languages play important roles in their respective domains and are crucial in the technological world.

C#

Final Thoughts

To sum it up, C# does have a lot of similarities with Java. Both languages have shown common functions. Yet, they also possess differences. Quite interesting, isn’t it? We also saw how both languages are important and cannot be compared. That’s because both are beautiful in their own ways.

Happy Coding!

Also Read: How long does it take to master JavaScript?

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