How is MS.NET compared with Java based platforms (J2EE)?

At root level architecture and components, MS.NET and J2EE platforms are very similar. Both are virtual machine based architecture having CLR and Java Virtual Machine (JVM) as the underlying virtual machine for the management and execution of programs. Both provide memory, security and thread management on behalf of the program and both try to decouple the applications with the execution environment (OS and physical machine). Both, basically, target the Web based applications and especially the XML based web services. Both provide managed access to memory and no direct access to memory is allowed to their managed applications.

However, there are few contrasts in the architecture and design of the two virtual machines. Microsoft .NET framework’s architecture is more coupled to the Microsoft Windows Operating System which makes it difficult to implement it on various operating systems and physical machines. Java, on the other hand, is available on almost all major platforms. At the darker side, J2EE architecture and JVM is more coupled to the Java programming language while Microsoft.NET has been designed from the scratch to support language independence and language integration. Microsoft.NET covers the component development and integration in much more detail than Java. The versioning policy of .NET is simply the best implemented versioning solution in the software development history. Java has got the support of industry giants like Sun, IBM, Apache and Oracle while the Microsoft.NET is supported by giants like Microsoft, Intel, and HP.

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