Software Architecture and more...

Will the real Multi Platform Technology please stand up?

An interesting thought occured to me today, after reading some angry posts (here, here and here).

Looks like the multi-platform story starts to turn around. Let's see:

Java 6 can run on:

Windows

Linux / Unix

 .NET 3.0 can run on:

Windows (heh...)

Linux / Unix (with Mono)

Mac OS/X (with Mono)

 

But wait - it's getting even better...

Don't want to use Mono? Use Silverlight! As you probably know, SL 1.1 will be released next year with built-in CLR.

 

Well, That's what I call multi-platform...

Published Wednesday, October 31, 2007 4:02 PM by MemiLavi
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Nektar said:

Of course Silverlight is not hte same as full redistributable. Anyway, why don't you actively try and develop parts of .NET for other platforms, i.e. Linux? In academia professors usually hate Windows. As a result and since .NET is considered a Windows technology, it is not used. By sticking everything around Windows then you automatically inherit Windows successes and failures, advantages and shortcommings. If Windows fails or is disliked in a sector, like in the web server business or the academia then .NET suffers. Why?

October 31, 2007 11:50 AM
 

Bill said:

Since when could .NET 3.0 code run with the Mono framework? I know there is plans for Silverlight and to introduce the WPF framework at some point. However, I see 0 libraries in thier documentation right now that even support some of the base .NET 3.0 libraries. Not even minimal XAML support. Not bad mouthing Mono in anyway, but it is always lagging behind what Microsoft is doing due to it being a non Microsoft project...

October 31, 2007 11:52 AM
 

MemiLavi said:

Nektar - This is a very itneresting question, which was discussed since v1.0 of .NET. I'm not representing MS formal opinion, just my own, but I believe trying to target multi platforms holds the risks of degrading .NET while trying to adapt it to all the platforms' limitations (Windows included). Look what is happening to Java, how long does it take to incorporate new features into the JVM, not to mention all the proprietary extensions added for every platform. I don't think we want to have many .NET versions with all kinds of extensions.

Bill - You are right in that Mono does not include .NET 3.0 as of now, but it does have a clear and concise roadmap which includes it in the (near) future, which is something not yet released by Apple regarding Java 6.

November 1, 2007 3:13 AM
 

JustAnOpinion said:

Silverlight running an enterprise application on the server side ?

You really don't know what you are talking about right ?

Running Hello World and all you MS bloggers what create samples for TechHead conference or whatever think that this is how enterprise development takes place. I am sorry to say that just running something on a platform is not enough. It has to have the feature set, robustness, has to respect the middleware and most importantly - maturity !  Last time I checked, there was no such thing as an application server. Web Server = Application Server. Nice !!!

January 13, 2008 1:46 AM
 

MemiLavi said:

@JustAnOpinion - I never meant to say Silverlight is an application server. It's definitely not. It's not supposed to run on a server at all. But - it gives a great way to execute .NET code on Linux. This is something you definitely should consider when targeting multiple platforms.

January 13, 2008 2:18 AM
 

JustAnOpinion said:

@MemiLavi - I see what you are saying. I agree with you there. And if the plugin can run on other platforms, same code uncompiled could run everywhere. Java applets had a long run for a while in the browsers with real Java classes. With the modern browsers, "accepted" security permissions/risks by users and competition between Silverlight, flash and others, it could mean light(er)weight plugins as a carrier for Multiplatform Virtual Machines/CLRs.

January 15, 2008 10:48 PM

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