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C# vs F# vs Visual Basic: What are the differences?
Introduction
In the world of programming, there are several languages to choose from, each with its own set of features and capabilities. Three popular languages used in the .NET framework are C#, F#, and Visual Basic. While all three languages can be used to develop applications, they have key differences that set them apart. In this article, we will explore the differences between C#, F#, and Visual Basic, highlighting their unique characteristics.
Syntax: C# follows a C-style syntax, which is similar to languages like C and C++. It uses braces {} to define blocks of code and semicolons ; to separate statements. On the other hand, F# follows a functional programming syntax, which is more concise and expressive. It uses indentation to define blocks of code and does not require semicolons. Visual Basic, on the other hand, uses a more verbose and English-like syntax, making it easier for beginners to understand and write code.
Type System: C# and Visual Basic both have a static type system, where types are checked at compile-time. This means that the types of variables, parameters, and return values must be declared and known at compile-time. F#, on the other hand, has a hybrid type system that allows for both static and dynamic typing. This means that F# can infer types automatically, allowing for more concise and flexible code.
Functional Programming: While C# and Visual Basic are primarily object-oriented languages, F# is a multi-paradigm language that supports both functional and object-oriented programming. F# provides built-in support for immutability, higher-order functions, and pattern matching, which make it well-suited for functional programming tasks. This sets F# apart from C# and Visual Basic, which focus primarily on object-oriented programming.
Asynchronous Programming: C# and Visual Basic both have built-in support for asynchronous programming through the use of the
async
andawait
keywords. Asynchronous programming allows applications to perform multiple tasks concurrently, improving performance and responsiveness. While F# also supports asynchronous programming, it takes a more functional approach with the use of asynchronous workflows and theAsync
module.Language Interoperability: C# and Visual Basic are both part of the .NET framework and can easily interoperate with each other. This means that a C# application can call Visual Basic code and vice versa. F#, on the other hand, can interoperate with both C# and Visual Basic code, thanks to its seamless integration with the .NET framework.
Community and Ecosystem: C# has a large and active community, with a wide range of libraries, frameworks, and tools available. Visual Basic also has a dedicated community, although it is smaller compared to C#. F# has a more specialized community, with a focus on functional programming and data science. It has a growing ecosystem of libraries and tools, especially in the area of data analysis and machine learning.
In summary, C#, F#, and Visual Basic are three distinct languages within the .NET framework, each with its own syntax, type system, programming paradigms, and community. C# is a widely-used, object-oriented language with a large ecosystem. F# is a functional-first language that excels in data science and analysis. Visual Basic, with its English-like syntax, is often favored by beginners.
include include int main(){ char name[10], pasword[10]; printf("enter you user name :"); gets(name); printf("enter your pasword : "); gets(pasword); printf("your name : %s \n your password : %s \n", name, pasword); if ( name != "youcef") { printf("name undefined\n"); } else { printf("finde name"); }
}
his not working
You will want to do a few things here. First, replace gets
with fgets
. Then, you're going to want to use strcmp
from string.h to compare the input with the desired result. The code listed below has been updated with a working example with the previously mentioned recommendations. This isn't perfect and there are other ways to accomplish the same task. Explore other options that are available when you have a chance and see if you can improve on this example.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main()
{
char name[10],
pasword[10];
printf("enter you user name :");
// Use fgets as gets is insecure and can easily lead to buffer overflow exploits
fgets(name, sizeof(char) * sizeof(name), stdin);
// Remove \n from fgets stdin read with null character so as to not have to include
// in strcmp later.
name[strlen(name) - 1] = '\0';
printf("enter your pasword : ");
fgets(pasword, sizeof(char) * sizeof(pasword), stdin);
printf("your name : %s \n your password : %s \n", name, pasword);
// If strcmp result > 0 || < 0 it's not a match
if (strcmp(name, "youcef") != 0)
{
printf("name undefined\n");
}
else
{
printf("finde name");
}
}
Dear, Yusuf You can't use if statement to compare two strings, but you can use strcmp() function which means string compare The behavior of strcmp function is: If (string1 < string2)? Then: return a negative value. If (string1 > string2)? Then: return a positive value.
If(string1 == string2)? Then: return (0).So, you can modify this statment to: if(strcmp(name,"Yousef") != 0) printf("name undefined\n");
else printf("find name");But, In this case there is one logic problem that (strcmp) function don't ignore the letter case. For example: If you input name : yousef
The first letter here (y) is small, but in the comparing statement above is capital, So the result will be "name undefined", but in fact "yousef" = "Yousef".To solve this problem you should use stracasecmp() function. This function ignore the letter case while comparing. The code will be: if(strcasecmp(name,"Yousef") != 0) printf("name undefined\n");
else printf("find name");Attention: Include string libreary after using these functions to skip any problem may be found.
includemay Allah bless you ^_^
Hi there. I want to expand my coding toolset. So I want to learn a second backend language besides Kotlin. Kotlin is fantastic. I love it in every aspect, and I think I can never return to Java. And also why should I? It is 100% interoperable with java and can co-exist in every project.
So my question here is. Which language do you think will bring me more joy? I think F#; it is more like Kotlin. Then C# (it's more or like 100% java). But, let's say I learn F#. Is it 100% interoperable like Kotlin? can they live side by side? Can I, then, apply to .NET jr jobs after a while, for example, or is C# the holy cow? I would like to learn .Net.
If it is the worst and only C# is acceptable, then which language should I learn? Dart? Go?
Exceptional decision to go with Kotlin. For the other story, go full with C#. "is C# the holy cow? Yes it is.". Specially now when netCore is crossplatform and you can build asp.net core applications on Windows, Linux and macOS via Visual Studio Code which is also multiplatform. Nothing will beat C# in the near future. Also, at the end of 2021 Microsoft will release Net 6.0 which will include MAUI.
"For those new to .NET MAUI (standing for .NET Multi-platform App UI), Microsoft says it's "the evolution of Xamarin.Forms extended from mobile to desktop scenarios with UI controls rebuilt from the ground up for performance and extensibility."
So, C# all the way sire!
animefanx1,
First let's get your questions sorted: Which language do you think will bring me more joy?
This you will have to decide for yourself, I am a long time C# developer and have seen it grow into a very compelling platform. The language and I'd compare it more to Kotlin than Java (by a long margin). More on .NET in a bit.
say I learn F#. Is it 100% interoperable like Kotlin?
You can have 100% interop with a caveat, your F# libraries have to implement certain guidance in order to be referenced from C#. Some (dare I say most) of the differences between F# and C# are predicated on language constructs that are not available in C#. For instance F# functions that return Unit.
can they live side by side?
Yes.
Can I, then, apply to .NET jr jobs after a while, for example, or is C# the holy cow?
I don't know if I take your meaning, but let me say this: Learning either C# or F# will likely force you to understand concepts such as garbage collection, primitive types, etc. which apply to all .NET languages, thus a lot of the effort you put into .NET is bound to pay off regardless of your choice.
If it is the worst and only C# is acceptable, then which language should I learn? Dart? Go? You can't go wrong with any of these and I venture to say whether you select C#, F#, Dart or Go as your next adventure, your willingness to learn will take you to try other languages, some which mey not even exist yet!
PS1: .NET is an end to end environment now. With the introduction of Blazor and Razor pages one does not need JavaScript or other browser scripting languages, it even interops with JavaScript. PS2. Microsoft is working on unifying .NET. Soon there will be only one version: .NET 5! Caveat: Some features such as WinForms will still be specific to the windows environment but all of those are likely things you don't need in Mac or Linux
I think you can learn go instead C#. C# is cool, but Golang also cool. It can run on any OS without specific software. C# can run on linux too but it's only the .NET Core as I know. But golang is flexible. So try it and decide what do you think about Golang
Hi Everyone,
I have some experience working with JavaScript and React and will now try to learn C# - could you please share some similarities and differences between JS and C# and what rookie mistakes I should watch out for when learning C#?
Also, any tips & good practices are greatly appreciated :)
Thank you
If you want to learn C#
to write some backend code you can also check out Node.js
which is basically JavaScript running outside the browser. You can create any kind of web servers, APIs, scrapers, automation scripts, etc using all the same JavaScript.
A good entry to Node
is Express.js
. It is the most common web framework for Node
. It's well documented and there are a lot of educational materials for it.
C# is .net framework of a programming language specially different from the programming languages you're used to. If you learn C# you will be experienceed in coding with VIsual Basic .net and also creating web development using ASP and this ASP also include JavaScript function.... I urge you to learn it
I prefer functional programming because it produces less buggy code (thus I recommend F#
), and is simply better to learn this paradigm earlier on in your coding career rather than later. It can also do most stuff C#
can do, namely code with .NET core
. If you're going to learn .NET
then you should learn Node.js
+Express
first though before doing web development with C#
/F#
I think you can manage to find something about this topic. it's pretty popular one. ex: https://www.educba.com/c-sharp-vs-js/
Something I don't see discussed enough over the internet is the performance difference. I don't think you should worry about this. 95% of the time you won't notice the difference on your day to day projets. You will know what you need in terms of performance when you get there.
Hi all, I have been working on the development and automation of construction software using C# and Python. Recently I have started working on Django python web framework and basic frontend for web development. I am really confused to choose between C# and Python to move forward in my career. Seeking your advice on these technologies and their future market value from a career perspective. Thanks,
In my opinion, a modern developer should have deep knowledge about Object Oriented (OOP) and Functional Programming (FP). The programming language is something that must come later. Any good programmer should be able to switch from one programming language to another easily, if they follow OOP and FP. There are languages, though, that must absolutely be in the portfolio of a modern developer: Java, C#, Python and JavaScript. But be prepared to know also Scala, Kotlin, Swift, Go, Ruby, Rust and TypeScript.
It depends on your preferred career path, if you want to work in start-up/scale-up environments, you probably want to go with a language like Django for the rapid development (fast to production). On the other hand, C# or Java would be better for building long term and large scaled applications, although, Django could certainly achieve this as well. I also want to second that it won't hurt to know both languages, pick your technologies wisely according to the use case, don't stick to a single technology stack. :)
C# and Python are both great languages. With great communities, libraries, frameworks, opportunities. I think it will be the same in a near future.
It’s matter of your likes, and your next jobs.
Dot net core is a little faster on performance. Python more popular with dynamic types. Probably the most lovable language.
I need some advice to choose a language for back-end development. Right now, my REST APIs were created by using Flask/Django, and I'd like to create a more reliable and more efficient API with static typing. On the one hand, Go is young, very light, and syntax like Python's, but C# has a large number of libs and more built-in methods. Which is the best solution today?
It depends.
From times to times I asked or was asked that same question. Technology aside, it's important to consider the skills and expertise that the dev team has. Whether you use language A,B or C or framework X,Y and Z, if your team has a strong background and experience with something make it count too.
I would recommend Go simply because as you mentioned, it's super light. No need to bring in the whole .NET suite to get a simple REST API up and running. Even if your API is a bit complex, Go should be able to handle it.
I started out with C# and .NET and I loved it. In my opinion, it was the perfect way to start learning the fundamentals of software development however I always felt like I was at a disadvantage when I was doing .NET development. Granted, .NET Core is now open-source and cross-platform, but I moved to Node.js simply because it is incredibly popular. I never thought I'd learn to love JavaScript it the way I did with C#, but I learned to love it pretty quickly, especially once I started using TypeScript. You get all of the benefits of C# and JavaScript all in one. If you've built a REST API with Python/Flask/Django, you'll be able to learn Node.js/Express/TypeScript well enough to migrate your API very fast and it's incredibly easy to host for free on any number of services.
I'm new to Go, I've got very little experience but the 'feel' of Go, isn't like Python in my opinion. Go has a pretty steep learning curve, much steeper than C# in my opinion. So if you are willing to consider Node/Express/TypeScript, I think you may really like it. If you're picking between Go and C#, I'd go for C# as of today, but once I am more comfortable with Go (which I anticipate being a slow process) I may change my mind.
At this moment in time, in late 2020- Node/Express/TypeScript feels like the obvious choice to me as a former C# developer.
The best language for you is the one that you know best!
Its a bit of a guess, but from your question and the difficulties you have with Python it seems to me the problem you describe is the manifestation of a bad design/architecture/code quality. These are not the problems of a language itself!
The experience you gained over the past years with your current programming language will outmatch any benefits of another language that you start from zero.
Because in the end of the day languages aren't all that different when it comes to fullfil the same task, it's more the tools, framework and ecosystem for a particular problem that make a difference.
I worked with Java, C#, Go and recently in Phyton, and I would choose Phyton over Go for WebApps, even I like compiled languages more. Go is a very simple language, I would even say maybe too simple. I can't stand all those go boilerplate if err checks, the broken filesystem, the date/time mess and many more things that aren't actually relevant for business application at all. Go has its advantages but not for WebApps.
Keep the lang and improve your skills and architecture you will benifit more from it than from a new language.
I recommend Go for backend. It's younger than C# doesn't mean it's not mature. It's already mature enough to be run on production. You can see there are already many companies in the world adopting Go as their backend business logic or tooling. I can name a few like Github, Shopify, uber, twitch, and many more. It's easier learning curve, low entry barrier, better performance than C#, better memory consumption than C#, since there's no VM/runtime needed. It's suitable for large scale system and large codebase for readibility and long maintainability. It's simpler than C# since no class, inheritance(this can cause hard to maintain software), exception, etc. You can still implement OO way in Go without those feature. Simple file structure, only main files and package files. It compiles to single binary and easy to deploy and work around it, unlike C# who compiled to IL and you need to wrap all those IL files to be run inside separated web server(even .Net/.Net Core platform provide built-in web server). For libs, don't worry, there are many open source libs you will found on Github and already adopted by many companies. Go is employed in personal, startup, even corporate level.
I suggest Go because it has a simple and clean ecosystem. The language is simple. You don’t need complex configs or installs either. You’ll be up and running very quickly. It doesn’t have as much as .NET but its standard library is more than sufficient for RESTful APIs. Concurrency is much, much easier too.
C# I’d definitely recommend later on. The .NET framework, especially core, is extremely powerful and there’s little you can’t build with it. Go won’t take you long to be productive with.
I would recommend C#, particularly Simplify.Web web-framework. C# is easy to start with (especially .NET Core). Simplify.Web is also easy to start with, no extra setup required for simple API, but on the other hand you have power of C# and full control over your API with ability to extend.
I have some systems on production using both languages. I tend to use golang if the API is small or medium size, but if I am going to build a large system definitively I use c#(asp netcore).
The database your are going to connect and the needed libraries could decide. Because both are awesome languages.
If you want to stick with python you may want to consider Fastapi. It uses Pydantic to give you strongly typed models and validation. It generates openapi docs for you out of the box. They have good documentation as well and they claim it is really fast.
I had a goal to create the simplest accounting software for Mac and Windows to help small businesses in Canada.
This led me to a long 2 years of exploration of the best language that could provide these features:
- Great overall productivity
- International wide-spread usage for long-term sustainability and easy to find documentation
- Versatility for creating websites and desktop softwares
- Enjoyable developper experience
- Ability to create good looking modern UIs
- Job openings with this language
I tried Python, Java, C# and C++ without finding what I was looking for.
When I discovered Javascript, I really knew it was the right language to use. Thinking of this today makes me realize even more how great a decision this has been to learn, use and master Javascript. It has been a fun, challenging and productive road on which I am still satisfied.
Obviously, when I refer to Javascript, it is not without implying the vast ecosystem around it. For me, JS is a whole universe in which almost every imaginable tools exist. It's awesome - for real. Thanks to all the contributors which have made it possible.
To be even clearer about how intense I am with Javascript, let's just say that my first passion was music. Until, I find coding with Javascript! Yep, I know!
So in conclusion, I chose Javascript because it is versatile, enjoyable, widely used, productive for both desktop softwares and websites with ability to create modern great looking user interfaces (assuming HTML and CSS are involved) and finally there are job openings.
I was considering focusing on learning RoR and looking for a work that uses those techs.
After some investigation, I decided to stay with C# .NET:
It is more requested on job positions (7 to 1 in my personal searches average).
It's been around for longer.
it has better documentation and community.
One of Ruby advantages (its amazing community gems, that allows to quickly build parts of your systems by merely putting together third party components) gets quite complicated to use and maintain in huge applications, where building and reusing your own components may become a better approach.
Rail's front end support is starting to waver.
C# .NET code is far easier to understand, debug and maintain. Although certainly not easier to learn from scratch.
Though Rails has an excellent programming speed, C# tends to get the upper hand in long term projects.
I would avise to stick to rails when building small projects, and switching to C# for more long term ones.
Opinions are welcome!
In 2015 as Xelex Digital was paving a new technology path, moving from ASP.NET web services and web applications, we knew that we wanted to move to a more modular decoupled base of applications centered around REST APIs.
To that end we spent several months studying API design patterns and decided to use our own adaptation of CRUD, specifically a SCRUD pattern that elevates query params to a more central role via the Search action.
Once we nailed down the API design pattern it was time to decide what language(s) our new APIs would be built upon. Our team has always been driven by the right tool for the job rather than what we know best. That said, in balancing practicality we chose to focus on 3 options that our team had deep experience with and knew the pros and cons of.
For us it came down to C#, JavaScript, and Ruby. At the time we owned our infrastructure, racks in cages, that were all loaded with Windows. We were also at a point that we were using that infrastructure to it's fullest and could not afford additional servers running Linux. That's a long way of saying we decided against Ruby as it doesn't play nice on Windows.
That left us with two options. We went a very unconventional route for deciding between the two. We built MVP APIs on both. The interfaces were identical and interchangeable. What we found was easily quantifiable differences.
We were able to iterate on our Node based APIs much more rapidly than we were our C# APIs. For us this was owed to the community coupled with the extremely dynamic nature of JS. There were tradeoffs we considered, latency was (acceptably) higher on requests to our Node APIs. No strong types to protect us from ourselves, but we've rarely found that to be an issue.
As such we decided to commit resources to our Node APIs and push it out as the core brain of our new system. We haven't looked back since. It has consistently met our needs, scaling with us, getting better with time as continually pour into and expand our capabilities.
C# and .Net were obvious choices for us at LiveTiles given our investment in the Microsoft ecosystem. It enabled us to harness of the .Net framework to build ASP.Net MVC, WebAPI, and Serverless applications very easily. Coupled with the high productivity of Visual Studio, it's the native tongue of Microsoft technology.
Pros of C#
- Cool syntax351
- Great lambda support293
- Great generics support265
- Language integrated query (linq)211
- Extension methods180
- Automatic garbage collection94
- Properties with get/set methods89
- Backed by microsoft84
- Automatic memory management71
- Amaizing Crossplatform Support61
- High performance46
- LINQ43
- Beautiful38
- Great ecosystem of community packages with Nuget35
- Vibrant developer community27
- Great readability24
- Dead-simple asynchronous programming with async/await21
- Visual Studio - Great IDE19
- Open source17
- Productive16
- Strongly typed by default, dynamic typing when needed15
- Object oriented programming paradigm15
- Easy separation of config/application code12
- Great community11
- OOPS simplified with great syntax10
- Operator overloading9
- Cool9
- Good language to teach OO concepts8
- High-performance8
- Events management using delegates8
- Unity7
- Linq expressions7
- Conditional compilation6
- Coherent language backed by an extensive CLR6
- Top level code5
- Organized and clean5
- Comprehensive platform libraries5
- Concise syntax, productivity designed4
- Lovely3
- Statically typed2
- Far more sleek and sphisticated than other languages1
- Simple and Readable1
- Sophisticated overall1
- Interfaces1
- Interfaces0
Pros of F#
- Pattern-matching53
- Makes programming fun again42
- Type providers38
- Delightful32
- Frictionless30
- Static type inference26
- Composable21
- Ml syntax19
- REPL17
- Succinct17
- DDD10
- Making invalid states impossible9
- Great community7
- WebSharper7
- Language support for units of measure7
- Functional Programming6
- Powerful6
- Beautiful Code5
- Compact5
- Multiplatform5
- Functional paradigm5
- Computation Expressions5
- Open source5
- Less bugs5
- Productive5
- Allow use JS and .NET libraries4
- Object oriented features4
- Fun to write4
Pros of Visual Basic
- ALGOL-like syntax makes code more readable5
- XML Literals3
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Cons of C#
- Poor x-platform GUI support15
- Closed source8
- Fast and secure7
- Requires DllImportAttribute for getting stuff from unma7
Cons of F#
- Microsoft tend to ignore F# preferring to hype C#3
- Interop between C# can sometimes be difficult2
- Hype1
- Type Providers can be unstable in larger solutions1
Cons of Visual Basic
- Specific to the microsoft platform4