Please correct my bad assumptions, and make sure I have analyzed this problem correctly. I don't want to re-start once I start.
Perhaps when I am done writing it in Python, "Shed-Skin" would be mature enough to use. Risky!
Go to college for 4 year program and you will realize why none of your questions make sense
Java, without question.
I’d recommend using a mixture of XML, Cobol and BASIC. Oh, and deploy it on CP/M.
All tech comparisons ... that is a bad idea. You need to include non-technical issues in your comparison. IT does not live for IT alone.
Consider comparison of things like ...
Time to market (develop)
Ease of user interface (from the user perspective)
Updates and maintenance
Lowering cost by reducing the time for additional developers to come up to speed.
Difficulty in troubleshooting / debugging
etc
Java.
Do you have other constraints such that, for java, packaging your app with the jre is an impediment?
What will your application do? Could your app be run on a server using a ‘software as a service’ model?
C# does not compile to byte code, like java it compiles to an intermediate code, called MSIL, and you’ll need to make sure the .NET runtime is on any machine that wants to run it. Unless C# has a native compile option I am unaware of.
I would never rely on Microsoft if your goal is to be multiplatform compatible, you are shooting yourself in the foot before you get out of the gate if that is your goal.
Your only serious options are a native language like C, C++ etc, and utilizing Macros in your compiler to have one set of source to compile for multiple environments, or Java. Yes, you can use a scripting language like a Python, but this doesn’t resolve your decompiling issues, performance speed concerns, or your need to make sure that the runtime is on the machine.
Java is the only real “language” option you have if you are doing serious stuff. If you are doing things that a scripting language will work for you, Python is fine but you aren’t going to get speed or escape the dependence of needing the run time, or safe compiled code.
If what you are trying to do is something that a scripting language can handle, pick your poison, ones the same as another as far as I’m concerned. If you want a full featured language with cross platform compatability, “write once run anywhere” java is the only serious option. If throughput or low level operations are needed, then you are talking C or C++ or something that compiles directly native language and you’ll need to compile different runtimes for different platforms and keep your source code maintainable with all those differences that may be needed.
Good luck
I would go with Java, and with Java FX you could eventually port the apps to other peripherals, i.e. handhelds.
This assumption is incorrect if you do not obfuscate your code prior to distribution. .Net Reflector will decompile your .Net assembly into perfectly readable code that can be modified and recompiled.
If you program using “objects” and the paradigm fits the application, then you might be quite happy with Java. On the other hand, if you aren’t comfortable with the object straight jacket and/or it doesn’t fit the application, then you might be better off with C++ where you get to make your own choices. It looked to me like python was also more flexible in that regard.
Stick with Java if you want to run on multiple platforms. Java is fine unless you are doing an amazing number of calculations, transforms, etc. I personally think C# amd VB .NET are much easier to use and have a superior IDE, but only really work on Windows boxes (yeah, I know, there are emulators and whatnot ...)
IMHO, stay away from these goofy ‘designer’ and scripting languages. Java is useful everywhere.
Take the question to http://www.stackoverflow.com and you’ll get a better range of answers.
Between Java and c#. Python is too fast and loose with the typing for me. Call me anal retentive, but I require strong typing.
Java has obvious advantages, especially vendor support for multi-platform, which is a big one. But c# was designed to address problems with Java, Delphi and others, thus IMHO comes out a much cleaner language. I also think c# has better data types and has a better generics implementation. The standard framework also has a ton of toys.
But add a problem for c#, your users won’t necessarily have the framework version you need. Many older systems are stuck at 1.1, which, trust me, you don’t want to program in. You need to go at least 2.0, which will entail a framework update for some of your users. So you’re possibly stuck in the same place as Java on that front, although the newer frameworks will install through Windows Update.
Answer to the question on c#, it compiles to a “common intermediate language” which is then compiled to native code by the CLR. It can cache this native version to make later runs faster. Basically, just like Java.
I apologize to many who have said good things about Java for not pinging them all, first. Etiquette says I should...
If your application requires SPEED, or is an application that will be opened and left open for long periods of time, you MUST NOT use Java. I have found that ALL of the programs on my computer that use Java eat more and more time and memory all the time. Many of those programs I like, but I find I have to eventually purge them from the system, which is often not convenient. Quite a few programs look great when I fire them up and test them, and as long as I don’t put too much of a demand on them, they perform OK. However, when I start using them in a professional type sense, the time penalty explodes in at least a quadratic manner with the data requirements. Often, they bog down so much that I have to kill them using the task manager to get use of my computer back. If you are only going to be using short lists of data and have limited time requirements the program will be used, Java may be fine.
I’m not familiar with C#, and Python may have some of the same limitations as Java, though I’m not as familiar with that.
Read the interesting article Why Python? by Eric Raymond, who was originally kind of antagonistic to the idea of learning it, and chronicles his journey from that antagonism to fandom.
C# for a desktop app, C# and PHP if it is a web app.
C#
Because C# is my hammer.
All the world looks like a nail.