Java J2EE vs. .NET??
 

I am basically doing some web development and I am trying to assess which is the better framework to use? We are primarily a Microsoft shop using classic ASP (ugh!), but I want to know if java (J2EE) is the better technology over .Net. Unfortunately alot of the articles out on the net dealing with this issue have a lot of spin behind them and it is hard to get an objective answer. Any thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Thanks

FunkmasterFlex

Well I used both for a period of time. My findings are that when developing with J2EE you have a greater reusability of backend code then when developing with .NET

but developing web applications with .NET is a lot faster (click - drag - drop) and you have your controls ... a bit like Visual Basic.

And most design patterns are designed with Java in mind, there are more 3rd party libraries available (and open source) ...

my preference goes to J2EE

I've seen similar opinions on .net in the past and I'm kinda confused by that. I'm not heavy into Java, but I've been on several large .net projects where each one has a bit of reused code from the one before it.

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean, reusing code is as simple as "Add Project..." or "Add File" (if you just want a few source files). Simply reference the Namespace/class, and voila. Namespaces are pretty much identical to packages in Java.

Plus you have the GAC, so you can store a DLL with all your common methods (in my case, DB calls) that each and every app can reference. Registering those is a simple drag & drop, or by using the GAC Configuration.

I don't know if a beginners opinion is what you are looking for, but here goes anyways:

I just started self-taught coding in Java, and I have just progressed to GUI building....it's a serious pain in the ass to write gui from scratch in Java(!!), and I've yet to find a Java UI builder I really like....*bummer*

It makes me long for an IDE interface with drag and drop controls, such as the .net dev platform.

It's funny, I've been in the same situation and I prefer .NET. I've done a fair amount of Java and .NET coding and I very much prefer .NET. Regarding the reusability of backend code, I think if you place your data access code and dataset schemas in an external library you'll find that you can reuse them extensively. I have three medium to large ASP.net apps that all use the same data access layer.

Also, if you go the .net route you can use strongly typed datasets which if used properly can save you a lot of coding in the validation of business rules department.

Based on the tools that are provided with ASP.net I can't see recommending any other method.

J2EE is leaps and bounds above classic ASP and if it were a choice between those two, J2EE hands down. But it's not and I think ASP.net has some big advantages.