C# is controlled by Microsoft, and won't do anything else than programs that run on Microsoft technology. This makes C# totally irrelevant to most projects that use Java. However, it is a very interesting language for those, who use C++ or Visual Basic, and want to target .net as a platform.
If you want to do something really standardized (vendor independent), C and C++ is very difficult to get around. C has been the standard for years (think of DLL interfaces), and with the new ANSI standard, C++ is also useful on binary level for APIs.
Java is very standardized, but has two problems: 1) Sun still "sits" heavily on it. 2) It is based on a runtime, that isn't available on all platforms, just like .net. But the Java runtime can be installed on all platforms, unlike the current status of .net.
The good thing about Java is, that Sun has proven to create more longlasting standards than Microsoft, which makes most Java programmers believe that they don't have to change their code for many years. Microsoft has several times shown that they are willing to give up backwards compatibility in Visual Basic to add new features.
On regards to Palm: There is one big reason why Palm loses. Their product is too good. My current Palm doesn't have significantly more features than my first Palm Pilot Pro, and it's more than enough for my use. There is absolutely no reason to buy a new Palm, unless your old one breaks. With Windows-based PDAs, however, you often upgrade to get the new features or longer battery life.
I wouldn't wonder if Microsoft would start to dominate that market, measured by turnover, and would continue to dominate it for quite some time. But I wouldn't be sure that the number of Windows CE users would be bigger than the competition - I still know people who use Palm Pilot Pros, simply because they didn't break, yet.
The new Linux-based PDAs are also interesting, because they use common software and cooperate. But if it will be possible to upgrade these PDAs by downloading new firmware from the internet, I doubt that customers will replace the hardware often.
Lars. |
