Gaurav Seth's WebLog : .NET etc

Visual J# 2.0 Redist Package Second Edition: Targeting Different Platforms using Visual Studio 2005

GauravS — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:31:00 GMT

Visual J# applications were designed to be built in an “x86” only mode using Visual Studio 2005. The main reason for the same was the fact that Visual J# Redist 2.0 supported execution of J# applications natively only on 32-bit platforms. On 64-bit platforms, the Visual J# applications used to run only in the WoW mode and native 64-bit execution was not available. Now, with Visual J# Redist 2.0-Second Edition, users can build and execute Visual J# applications natively in 64-bit platforms. Users can build Visual J# applications specific to the following platform types:

· Anycpu – binaries that are platform agnostic and can run on any platform type natively

· x86 – binaries that run natively on 32-bit machine and in WoW mode on 64-bit machines

· x64 – binaries that only run natively on x64 architecture 64-bit machines

· IA64 – binaries that only run natively on Itanium architecture 64-bit machines

Here are the steps that are needed to build Visual J# applications to non-default (non x86) architecture type using Visual Studio 2005

1. Ensure that you UNINSTALL Visual J# Redist 2.0 which comes as a part of Visual Studio 2005.

2. Install Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition on the machine.

3. Make sure you are using the “Visual J# Development Settings” for Visual Studio (read more about how to change the development settings in Visual Studio at my blog post here).

4. Now, when you open any J# Project/Solution in VS2005, go to the Configuration Manager as shown below

5. This would open the Configuration Manager as below, in which you need to define a <New> Platform type as below

6. Choose any of the three settings as shown in the drop down of the new popup window

7. Let the other choices remain as-is

8. Hit OK. This would show the updated platform setting in the Configuration Manager.

9. Close the Configuration Manager

Build your Visual J# Project/Solution and you are all set.

Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable – Second Edition: Compiler Changes

GauravS — Tue, 22 May 2007 15:10:00 GMT

The Visual J# compilers (both 32-bit and 64-bit) shipped with J# Redist 2.0-SE now support a new command-line switch “/platform” with the following available options for cross-compilation:

x86: for use when target platform is x86.
x64: for use when target platform is AMD64 (or x64).
itanium: for use when target platform is IA64.
anycpu: for use when application is portable across architectures.

To be compatible with the previous releases of Visual J# Redistributable, the code generated by the 32-bit and WoW Visual J# compiler that ships with Microsoft Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition targets the x86 platform by default. To run the existing Visual J# applications natively on 64-bit platforms, rebuild the existing applications by using the /platform switch and create anycpu or 64-bit platform-specific applications.

The code generated by the 64-bit Visual J# compiler that ships with Microsoft Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition targets the anycpu platform by default. Use the option that is specific to the particular 64-bit platform architecture type (x64 or itanium) while compiling for that 64-bit platform. Similarly, use the x86 option when compiling the application for a 32-bit platform from the 64-bit Visual J# compiler.

Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable – Second Edition: Leveraging Existing 32-bit Visual J# Code

GauravS — Mon, 21 May 2007 13:58:00 GMT

The 64-bit editions (x64 and IA64) of Microsoft Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition enable users to take full advantage of the 64-bit .NET Framework (v2.0 and v3.0) and the underlying 64-bit hardware platform without having to deal with differences between the 32-bit and 64-bit hardware platforms. To know more about the differences on the two platforms see the whitepaper here.

In most cases, Visual J# applications that were developed by using previous versions of Visual J# Redistributable targeting the 32-bit platform can be recompiled by using the Visual J# compiler that ships with Microsoft Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition and can be executed as 64-bit native applications without source code modifications. However, 32-bit Visual J# applications that have dependencies on floating-points, native code (for example, DLLs or COM InProc Servers) or the feature set that is not supported may require modifications when porting to 64-bit platforms.

To use the existing 32-bit code on the 64-bit platform, the application must be recompiled on a computer with the Microsoft Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition compiler by using the ‘/platform’ compiler switch.

Though it would be great to never know about the differences of the underlying platforms, a few scenarios which developers must address are available in the whitepaper here. Following are a few more feature areas supported by Visual J# for which a source code change would be needed to execute the applications natively on 64-bit platforms:

32-bit vs. 64-bit Platform Difference	Recommendation(s)
JavaCOM	Use .NET COM interop instead of COM interop.
J/Direct	Use .NET PInvoke instead of making native calls.
J++ delegates	Use .NET delegate to author delegates.
WFC	Use Windows Forms to write controls.

Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable–Second Edition: Released To Web

GauravS — Fri, 18 May 2007 07:54:00 GMT

The ENU Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition for x86, x64 and IA64 platforms is released to the web (download locations below). This release enables all Visual J# users to execute the Visual J# applications natively on the 64-bit platforms, thus leveraging the existing Windows and .NET Framework investments on 64-bit platforms. Apart from the 64-bit execution, the product also contains a host of bug fixes for issues discovered during various stages of the language since its inception. The product is supported over .NET Framework v2.0, v3.0 and v3.5 (Beta).

Product Download Locations

Microsoft Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition (x86)

Microsoft Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition (x64)

Microsoft Visual J# 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition (IA64)

.NET Vs J2EE: How do we compare

GauravS — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:21:00 GMT

A customer recently wrote the following to us-

My organization is currently considering either .NET or Java (J2EE) as our enterprise application development platform.

I am sold on .NET as I believe that:-

· There are cheaper resources (per hour rate) and large vendor/contractor providers

· It quicker to develop applications with .NETusing either Visual Studio or Web Express

· Tools are free

· Strong technical community (MSDN).

He needed facts, independent white papers to confirm the findings.

Here is a link to Competitive Reports and Evidence: Comparing .NET to J2EE. This site contains extensive materials designed to help users evaluate Microsoft .NET vs. J2EE application server technologies. Each area contains downloadable whitepapers, benchmark comparisons, and sample source code (including studies by independent parties like Forrester)

The website Resources for Java Developers contains the above and more sections.

In case you know of more resources, feel free to add.