r/learnprogramming • u/Vafireems • 6h ago
Topic C# or Java?
If you had to choose one class between the two, which would you select and why? I tried to Google the purpose of them; the immediate answers from Google felt very vague and like both of the languages are common. Is one course better for web development as opposed to apps or something? Looking at the courses I'm taking, down the line I will select one of the two. The only thing I know so far is C++, so I'm quite new.
Also, side question: why are there so many languages? The only logical thing I can imagine is there were problems that couldn't be solved with say for example C++ so someone created something new. But why not just build on the original language? Why did they need to reinvent the wheel? Or is it as simple as that: someone wanted to create their own thing?
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u/ApprehensiveFix5084 6h ago
You think you are standing in a forest of different languages, but you are actually quite a ways up a tree looking at different branches of a small number of trees. As someone who remembers when C++ was the “new hotness” and has had to sift through COBOL (a language specifically for business math computational work) code for work, languages branch off the trunk, and each other when something new is needed or desired. Things like memory management and the once new idea of object oriented programming have spawned new languages.
As to those two languages, my perspective from the sidelines is that C# is very “Microsoft house” whereas Java is more “for everyone.”