subhashini (Moderator):
hello everbody. A very good evening to all of you..
subhashini (Moderator):
welcome to today's msdn chat on Java Migration and Interop Strategies
subhashini (Moderator):
we have multiple experts on today's chat :)
subhashini (Moderator):
I am sure all of you would be pleased to know them
subhashini (Moderator):
First we have Janakiraman - Developer Evangelist
subhashini (Moderator):
Sadagopan Rajaram - Development Lead
subhashini (Moderator):
Pratap Lakshman - Lead Program Manager
subhashini (Moderator):
and finally Kishan - Group Manager
subhashini (Moderator):
And all of them work from the Hyderabad office of MS
subhashini (Moderator):
Before we begin the chat, few chat rules
subhashini (Moderator):
Please refrain from sending any private messages to the expert during the chat
subhashini (Moderator):
Chat Procedures:
This chat will last for one hour. During this hour, our Experts will respond to as many questions as they can. Please understand that there may be some questions we cannot respond to due to lack of information or because the information is not yet public. We encourage you to submit questions for our Experts. We ask that you stay on topic for the duration of the chat. This helps the Guests and Experts follow the conversation more easily. We invite you to ask off topic questions after this chat is over.
subhashini (Moderator):
So the stage is set ! Lets welcome the experts to the chat.
subhashini (Moderator):
Hi jani, kishan, pratap & sada
Jani_MSFT (Expert):
Hi
pratap_MSFT (Expert):
Hi everybody!
sadagopan_msft (Expert):
Hi everyone
subhashini (Moderator):
yes , most of them work with the J# team
subhashini (Moderator):
So , to warm up the chat , I would request our experts to give us a quick brief on the topic
Jani_MSFT (Expert):
Well, This chat is more focused on InterOp and Migration from Java
subhashini (Moderator):
And we can start taking questions , following that .
Jani_MSFT (Expert):
That includes strategies for moving existing Java code to .NET
Jani_MSFT (Expert):
and also interoperating with Java and J2EE code
Jani_MSFT (Expert):
So, if you have any questions on how to move to .NET from Java, keep'em coming!
pratap_MSFT (Expert):
It is not our goal to build the entire Java stack. But we will do what we can to support customers who want to preserve their business logic when porting their Java applications to the .NET Framework.
subhashini (Moderator):
Please use the radial button "submit a question" to ask any questions to the experts. Keep the questions coming guys.
pratap_MSFT (Expert):
To answer Banta's question ...
pratap_MSFT (Expert):
We have made several additions in Whidbey
(1) A new SKU (Visual J# 2005 Express Edition)
(2) Object Test Bench
(3) Support for running J# Apps in partial trust
(4) additions to the language (support for value types, enums, custom attributes, consuming .NET Generics, etc.)
(5) enhanced support for collections in the library - we have upgraded it to offer functionality equivent to JDK 1.2
And many more …
Our theme for Whidbey is to make it easier to write safer and more reliable code, while opening up several new scenarios where J# can be applied. Take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/india/msdn/chat/transcripts/150.aspx for some details.
pratap_MSFT (Expert):
Deepthi, J# libraries support functionality equivalent to JDK 1.1.4 and, for certain packages, functionality equivalent to level JDK 1.2. So if your app is using these it should be straight forward to move to J#.
Jani_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What are the takes aways from migrating to .NET from J2EE where J2EE has a upper hand in all market studies, in terms of reliablity, standards and most importantly consistency in approach, api's and implementation!?
A: Sarang, .NET is built on standards like ECMA and ISO at the Framework level, XML, WSDL and SOAP at the Application level. .NET is also more productive for enterprise developers. I suggest you to take a look at the PetShop application which compares with the J2EE PetStore application. The MiddleWare company has come out with some interesting results.
pratap_MSFT (Expert):
Banta, sure we have plans for J# Orcas! But it would be premature for me to comment on them at the moment.
Jani_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Java as of today, is platform agnostic in production! .NET unfortunately is not, though there are initiatives racing ahead; So what is the key thing that would really make an enterprise think of moving over to .NET from an established J2EE platform!?
A: .NET is the preferred Application Server on Microsoft Windows. While it is reliable, stable and performant on Windows, it also interoperates well with other platforms. So customers running on Windows would prefer .NET than any other Application Server platforms.
pratap_MSFT (Expert):
Sachin, JDK 1.4 is something we are looking at; however we can't give you a firm date at the moment.
sadagopan_msft (Expert):
Hi Shajee, let me break up your question into three parts.
sadagopan_msft (Expert):
(1) The kind of migration depends on the tool that you are using. If you are using J#, the migration involves no architecture change to the application and it still uses the JDK APIs. However, this means that the level of JDK support will be at 1.1.4+. If you are using JLCA (which does API level translation), the code would migrate to the .NET framework which essentially means that the application would depend on a totally different set of APIs and therefore be a more involved migration than just using J#.
(3) As Pratap answered earlier, we are looking at supporting JDK 1.4 and above.
pratap_MSFT (Expert):
Sriram, this should no longer be a problem. With ClickOnce deployment the J# Redist is automatically bundled with your app.
sadagopan_msft (Expert):
Hi Charu, Pratap has already answered your question earlier - J# libraries support functionality equivalent to JDK 1.1.4 and, for certain packages, functionality equivalent to level JDK 1.2. So if your app is using these it should be straight forward to use your code directly on J#. However, if your application is targeting JDK level above the support J# currently offers, you will need to change the codebase to migrate to .NET
subhashini (Moderator):
Guys we have the last 4 mins left for teh chat to conclude. request all of you to pool in your last few questions
Jani_MSFT (Expert):
Q: What are the migration tools made available in whidbey / express editions and how fast can a student really learn and move on to j# from java?
A: We have support for SupUI(Swing equivalent), excellent support for standard textbooks, rich content (documentation, samples etc.). So students should be easily able to learn it.
GKhanna_MS (Moderator):
We have time for one more question :)
subhashini (Moderator):
Feel free to email our experts your questions. jani at janamsv@microsoft.com
sadagopan_msft (Expert):
Hi Aswin, as Sriram pointed out, the entire range of .NET APIs is available to you through J#. However, since we are running out of time, can you please post the same query with the entire code snippet to the J# newsgroup at http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.dotnet.vjsharp?
GKhanna_MS (Moderator):
Ok guys
GKhanna_MS (Moderator):
its time to wrap up for the day
GKhanna_MS (Moderator):
Thanks Jani/Pratap/Sada/Kishan for coming in
GKhanna_MS (Moderator):
And thanks to all the attendees
sadagopan_msft (Expert):
Thanks everyone for an enjoyable hour. See you all later soon
GKhanna_MS (Moderator):
Hope you had a good time.
pratap_MSFT (Expert):
Thank you all!
GKhanna_MS (Moderator):
Do join us next week
GKhanna_MS (Moderator):
when the product team joins us to discuss the Visual Studio Team Foundation Server.
GKhanna_MS (Moderator):
Until.. have a good evening!