Question

My company is tossing around the idea of using the Entity Framework when it comes out with .NET 4. We are currently a VB.NET shop, but have some interest in switching to C#.

Is there any major arguments for or against such a move?
Does EF with C# hold any advantages in performance, coding ease, etc over VB.NET?

Thanks for your thoughts/opinions!

Answer 1

I always say stick to what you are good at. If there is a large learning curve from vb.net to C# it may be risky. I was a vb.net programmer but moved to C#, I didn’t find it all that difficult. But if you are working on some robust software that needs daily changes / fixes you may want to stick what you are good at (in this case VB.net).

Here is a nice comparison between both languages.

When you are comparing both languages for the entity framework you won’t find much of a difference. If you prefer public sub with matching end subs (more wordy and verbose) then use vb.net. If you like { } and less wordiness then prefer C#.

I hate to tell people not to learn C# because I’ll be quite honest, I wish I would of changed from VB.net to C# a long time ago. I like the cryptic like syntax because I have a C/C++ background. I had to deal with VB.net for a while due to some internal applications. So it’s preference and you’ll probably be quick to implement everything in vb.net. But if your company is willing to let you guys learn a new language and invest in your knowledge then I say go for C# all the way.