Soma blogs about J#

Soma just posted a blog entry about J# and JLCA that I thought was pretty on-target with the direction I see J# and the JLCA headed. As product manager for our Java migration tools, people are always questioning our dedication to J#. The first reason might be because of our history with J++; but J# is independently developed by Microsoft with no Sun intellectual property, whereas J++ was a joint venture. When things went south with Sun, we had to stop working on J++ and will eventually have to stop supporting it. But J# is very different since it's not a joint venture with Sun. I'll spare all the legal details... <g>

But the other reason people question our commitment to J# is that J# will never capture the same market share that C# and VB have. It's here for us to attract Java developers to the .NET Framework by providing a language and business logic functionality that they are already familiar with. Since many of these developers may also go to C#, and C# is also attracting a lot of C/C++ developers who want to work with managed code (Of course C/C++ also supports managed code but that's a whole other topic) we simply will never have the developer share that C# does. But it's still a very strategic language in Microsoft's offerings. Java is our #1 competitor in the application development space, so it only makes sense that we would provide the Java language as an entry point for developers who want to check out our platform. So are we committed? You bet. We've got some great features being added to J# in Visual Studio 2005 and more planned for Orcas.

It's also nice to see Soma recognizing our MVP's who were just added to our Dev Center page. Those guys are true rock stars in my book! Talk about passion for the community! I still don't know what "Namaste" means when Soma signs his blog entries, but I hope to find out soon... <g>

Comments

• Anonymous
  March 15, 2005
  Namaste!
  I asked Devindra Chainani, one of the business managers here, what "Namaste!" means and here is his reply:
  ++++++++++
  Literal meaning of namaste is ‘I bow to you”
  Namaste is a polite way to sign-off or end a meeting in India. It can also be used as a polite way to start a meeting or a conversation.
  It is both a spoken greeting and a gesture. As a gesture, one brings both palms together in front of the chest (like prayer hands)
  Etymology: Sanskrit `homage; bowing to you'
  ++++++++++
  Very cool, you learn something new every day. =)
• Anonymous
  March 15, 2005
  Just to add further on Brian's explanation, Namaste is used only in the North India. We southerners don't! ;)
• Anonymous
  March 15, 2005
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  March 16, 2005
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  March 17, 2005
  Thanks for taking the time to explain this for me, Balaji! I can't wait until I get a chance to visit India. =)