<s>
C#	B-Application
and	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
are	O
the	O
two	O
primary	O
languages	O
used	O
to	O
program	O
on	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
and	O
VB.NET	B-Language
are	O
syntactically	O
very	O
different	O
languages	O
with	O
very	O
different	O
histories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
name	O
suggests	O
,	O
the	O
C#	B-Application
syntax	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
core	O
C	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
originally	O
developed	O
by	O
Dennis	O
Ritchie	O
at	O
Bell	O
Labs	O
(	O
AT&T	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Java	B-Language
and	O
C++	B-Language
are	O
two	O
other	O
programming	O
languages	O
whose	O
syntax	O
is	O
also	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
C	B-Language
syntax	O
,	O
so	O
they	O
share	O
a	O
common	O
look	O
and	O
feel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
See	O
Comparison	B-Device
of	I-Device
Java	I-Device
and	I-Device
C	I-Device
Sharp	I-Device
for	O
more	O
on	O
this	O
topic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
claim	O
to	O
fame	O
with	O
its	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
was	O
to	O
free	O
consumers	O
from	O
hardware-specific	O
devices	O
by	O
encapsulating	O
those	O
tasks	O
within	O
its	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Code	O
became	O
"	O
portable	O
"	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
compiler	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
fact	O
,	O
both	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
and	O
C#	B-Application
use	O
the	O
same	O
CLR	O
(	O
Common	O
Language	O
Runtime	O
)	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VB.NET	B-Language
finds	O
its	O
roots	O
in	O
BASIC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
1970s	O
,	O
the	O
language	O
was	O
picked	O
up	O
by	O
microcomputer	O
manufacturers	O
of	O
the	O
era	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
both	O
a	O
simple	O
ROM	O
embedded	O
programming	O
language	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
quasi	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
for	O
input/output	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
,	O
the	O
language	O
was	O
picked	O
up	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
and	O
expanded	O
significantly	O
beyond	O
its	O
original	O
intent	O
into	O
their	O
"	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
"	O
language/platform	O
that	O
was	O
sold	O
throughout	O
the	O
1990s	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
rapid	O
application	O
development	O
"	O
(	O
RAD	O
)	O
tool	O
for	O
Windows	O
programming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
competed	O
directly	O
against	O
other	O
RAD	O
tools	O
of	O
the	O
1990s	O
such	O
as	O
PowerBuilder	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
though	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
was	O
a	O
successful	O
development	O
platform	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
discontinued	O
after	O
its	O
6th	O
version	O
(	O
VB6	O
)	O
when	O
Microsoft	O
introduced	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
and	O
its	O
related	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
development	O
platform	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
2000s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
that	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
current	O
C++	B-Language
and	O
VB6	O
languages	O
were	O
used	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
two	O
new	O
programming	O
languages	O
in	O
their	O
new	O
"	O
Integrated	B-Application
Development	I-Application
Environment	I-Application
(	O
IDE	B-Application
)	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
languages	O
were	O
named	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
VB.NET	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
is	O
now	O
the	O
dominant	O
Microsoft-based	O
development	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developers	O
will	O
notice	O
that	O
VB	O
15	O
(	O
first	O
appearing	O
in	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2017	O
)	O
lacks	O
certain	O
language	O
capabilities	O
contained	O
in	O
the	O
new	O
C#	B-Application
7.3	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Though	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
VB.NET	B-Language
are	O
syntactically	O
very	O
different	O
,	O
that	O
is	O
where	O
the	O
differences	O
mostly	O
end	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
developed	O
both	O
of	O
these	O
languages	O
to	O
be	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
development	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
compile	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
intermediate	O
language	O
(	O
IL	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
runs	O
against	O
the	O
same	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
runtime	O
libraries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
there	O
are	O
some	O
differences	O
in	O
the	O
programming	O
constructs	O
(	O
discussed	O
further	O
below	O
)	O
,	O
their	O
differences	O
are	O
primarily	O
syntactic	O
and	O
,	O
assuming	O
one	O
avoids	O
the	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
"	O
Compatibility	O
"	O
libraries	O
provided	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
aid	O
conversion	O
from	O
VB6	O
,	O
almost	O
every	O
command	O
in	O
VB	O
has	O
an	O
equivalent	O
command	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lastly	O
,	O
both	O
languages	O
reference	O
the	O
same	O
Base	O
Classes	O
of	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
to	O
extend	O
their	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
both	O
languages	O
are	O
high-level	B-Language
programming	I-Language
languages	I-Language
,	O
VB.NET	B-Language
maintains	O
a	O
slightly	O
higher	O
level	O
of	O
abstraction	O
in	O
some	O
respects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
main	O
goals	O
of	O
.NET	B-Application
has	O
been	O
its	O
multi-language	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
intent	O
of	O
the	O
design	O
was	O
that	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
various	O
Microsoft	O
languages	O
should	O
have	O
the	O
same	O
level	O
of	O
access	O
to	O
all	O
OS	B-General_Concept
features	O
,	O
should	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
expose	O
the	O
same	O
level	O
of	O
power	O
and	O
usability	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
simplify	O
calling	O
from	O
a	O
module	O
in	O
one	O
language	O
to	O
that	O
written	O
in	O
another	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
implementation	O
,	O
all	O
.NET	B-Application
programming	O
languages	O
share	O
the	O
same	O
runtime	O
engine	O
,	O
uniform	O
abstract	B-Data_Structure
syntax	I-Data_Structure
tree	I-Data_Structure
,	O
and	O
Common	O
Intermediate	O
Language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
all	O
.NET	B-Application
languages	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
platform	O
features	O
including	O
garbage	O
collection	O
,	O
cross	O
language	O
inheritance	O
,	O
exception	B-General_Concept
handling	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
debugging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allows	O
the	O
same	O
output	O
binary	O
to	O
be	O
produced	O
from	O
any	O
.NET	B-Application
programming	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
provides	O
minor	O
differences	O
in	O
the	O
development	O
environment	O
for	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
VB.Net	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
each	O
subsequent	O
release	O
of	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
,	O
the	O
differences	O
between	O
development	O
environments	O
for	O
these	O
languages	O
have	O
been	O
reduced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
early	O
versions	O
of	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
had	O
poor	O
support	O
for	O
Intellisense	B-Application
in	O
C#	B-Application
compared	O
to	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
,	O
and	O
did	O
not	O
offer	O
background	O
compilation	O
for	O
C#	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
the	O
main	O
differences	O
in	O
the	O
development	O
environments	O
are	O
additional	O
features	O
for	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
that	O
originated	O
in	O
VB6	O
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Background	O
compilation	O
is	O
a	O
feature	O
of	O
the	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
IDE	B-Application
whereby	O
code	O
is	O
compiled	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
written	O
by	O
the	O
programmer	O
with	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
identifying	O
compilation	O
errors	O
without	O
requiring	O
the	O
solution	O
to	O
be	O
built	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
feature	O
has	O
been	O
available	O
for	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
since	O
.NET	B-Application
1.1	O
and	O
was	O
present	O
in	O
early	O
versions	O
of	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
for	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
background	O
compilation	O
is	O
a	O
relatively	O
new	O
concept	O
for	O
Visual	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
is	O
available	O
with	O
service	O
pack	O
1	O
for	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2008	I-Application
Standard	O
Edition	O
and	O
above	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
distinct	O
disadvantage	O
for	O
C#	B-Application
is	O
that	O
the	O
Error	O
List	O
panel	O
does	O
not	O
update	O
until	O
the	O
solution	O
is	O
rebuilt	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Refactoring	O
large	O
projects	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
is	O
made	O
more	O
difficult	O
by	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
frequently	O
rebuild	O
the	O
solution	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
highlight	O
compilation	O
errors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
is	O
not	O
the	O
case	O
with	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
because	O
the	O
Error	O
List	O
panel	O
is	O
synchronized	O
with	O
the	O
background	O
compiler	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
a	O
particular	O
advantage	O
with	O
large	O
projects	O
and	O
can	O
significantly	O
reduce	O
the	O
time	O
required	O
to	O
start	O
debugging	O
in	O
the	O
IDE	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
bulk	O
of	O
the	O
differences	O
between	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
VB.NET	B-Language
from	O
a	O
technical	O
perspective	O
are	O
syntactic	O
sugar	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
the	O
differences	O
between	O
the	O
two	O
languages	O
are	O
actually	O
centered	O
around	O
the	O
IDE	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
VB.NET	B-Language
has	O
the	O
Handles	O
syntax	O
for	O
events	O
,	O
which	O
connects	O
event	O
handlers	O
to	O
object	O
variables	O
rather	O
than	O
to	O
objects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Firing	O
of	O
events	O
is	O
done	O
with	O
the	O
RaiseEvent	O
keyword	O
,	O
giving	O
the	O
IDE	B-Application
the	O
chance	O
to	O
show	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
available	O
events	O
to	O
pick	O
from	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Properties	O
can	O
be	O
passed	O
to	O
methods	O
with	O
ByRef	O
parameters	O
(	O
ref	O
parameters	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
C#	B-Application
you	O
have	O
to	O
write	O
three	O
additional	O
instructions	O
:	O
Declare	O
a	O
variable	O
,	O
copy	O
the	O
property	O
value	O
into	O
the	O
variable	O
and	O
copy	O
the	O
variable	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
property	O
after	O
the	O
method	O
call	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
C#	B-Application
a	O
similar	O
syntax	O
exist	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
is	O
optional	O
and	O
it	O
can	O
only	O
be	O
applied	O
if	O
the	O
member	O
implements	O
a	O
single	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
My	O
feature	O
provides	O
easy	O
and	O
intuitive	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
classes	O
,	O
enabling	O
the	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
user	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
the	O
computer	O
,	O
application	O
,	O
settings	O
,	O
resources	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
has	O
a	O
similar	O
construct	O
reusing	O
the	O
keyword	O
this	O
as	O
the	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
property	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
lacks	O
the	O
DirectCast	O
(	O
mapping	O
to	O
a	O
single	O
CLR	O
instruction	O
)	O
,	O
strict	O
type	O
conversion	O
can	O
be	O
achieved	O
by	O
the	O
as	O
operator	O
which	O
includes	O
an	O
additional	O
runtime	O
error	O
protection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
lacks	O
the	O
End	O
statement	O
which	O
abruptly	O
terminates	O
an	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Use	O
C#	B-Application
ref	O
struct	B-Application
in	O
VB.NET	B-Language
:	O
Detailed	O
information	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
here	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
VB	O
this	O
is	O
handled	O
in	O
the	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
IDE	B-Application
editor	O
,	O
which	O
adds	O
comment	O
markers	O
to	O
selections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Iterative	O
for-loops	B-Language
can	O
contain	O
multiple	O
conditionals	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
for( int	O
i	O
=	O
0	O
;	O
i	O
<	O
10	O
&&	O
somethingTrue	O
;	O
i++	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
a	O
legacy	O
of	O
C	B-Language
,	O
where	O
the	O
for	B-Language
statement	I-Language
is	O
basically	O
syntactic	O
sugar	O
for	O
a	O
while	O
statement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VB.NET	B-Language
would	O
have	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
If	O
function	O
with	O
two	O
parameters	O
-	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
VB.NET	B-Language
would	O
have	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
If	O
function	O
with	O
three	O
parameters	O
-	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
VB.NET	B-Language
identifiers	O
are	O
not	O
case-sensitive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
assigning	O
a	O
value	O
to	O
a	O
variable	O
with	O
a	O
different	O
data	O
type	O
(	O
and	O
with	O
Option	O
Strict	O
not	O
turned	O
on	O
)	O
,	O
VB.NET	B-Language
will	O
coerce	O
the	O
value	O
if	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
identifiers	O
are	O
case-sensitive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
assign	O
the	O
same	O
value	O
to	O
multiple	O
variables	O
,	O
you	O
can	O
use	O
a	O
=	O
b	O
=	O
c	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
terminates	O
a	O
block	O
of	O
code	O
with	O
End	O
BlockName	O
statements	O
(	O
or	O
Next	O
statements	O
,	O
for	O
a	O
for	B-Language
loop	I-Language
)	O
which	O
are	O
more	O
familiar	O
for	O
programmers	O
with	O
experience	O
using	O
T-SQL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
C#	B-Application
,	O
the	O
braces	O
,	O
{},	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
delimit	O
blocks	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
more	O
familiar	O
to	O
programmers	O
with	O
experience	O
in	O
other	O
widely	O
deployed	O
languages	O
such	O
as	O
C++	B-Language
and	O
Java	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
if	O
a	O
block	O
consists	O
of	O
only	O
a	O
single	O
statement	O
,	O
the	O
braces	O
may	O
be	O
omitted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
is	O
case	O
sensitive	O
while	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
is	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
have	O
two	O
variables	O
with	O
the	O
same	O
apparent	O
name	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
variable1	O
and	O
Variable1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
will	O
correct	O
(	O
make	O
uniform	O
)	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
variables	O
as	O
they	O
are	O
typed	O
in	O
VB.NET	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
programmers	O
typically	O
capitalize	O
type	O
and	O
member	O
names	O
and	O
leave	O
field	O
and	O
variable	O
names	O
lowercase	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
cause	O
problems	O
for	O
those	O
converting	O
C#	B-Application
code	O
to	O
a	O
case-insensitive	O
language	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
,	O
or	O
to	O
those	O
unaccustomed	O
to	O
reading	O
a	O
case	O
sensitive	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
is	O
not	O
case	O
sensitive	O
,	O
which	O
means	O
that	O
any	O
combinations	O
of	O
upper	O
and	O
lower	O
case	O
letters	O
in	O
keywords	O
are	O
acceptable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
automatically	O
converts	O
all	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
keywords	O
to	O
the	O
default	O
capitalised	O
forms	O
,	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
is	O
case	O
sensitive	O
and	O
all	O
C#	B-Application
keywords	O
are	O
in	O
lower	O
cases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
and	O
C#	B-Application
share	O
most	O
keywords	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
difference	O
being	O
that	O
the	O
default	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
keywords	O
are	O
the	O
capitalised	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
C#	B-Application
keywords	O
,	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
keywords	O
have	O
very	O
different	O
versions	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
and	O
C#	B-Application
:	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
C#	B-Application
keywords	O
such	O
as	O
sealed	O
represent	O
different	O
things	O
when	O
applied	O
to	O
methods	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
when	O
they	O
are	O
applied	O
to	O
class	O
definitions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VB.NET	B-Language
,	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
hand	O
,	O
uses	O
different	O
keywords	O
for	O
different	O
contexts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
VB.NET	B-Language
have	O
high	O
adoption	O
rates	O
,	O
and	O
very	O
active	O
developer	O
communities	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
fully	O
supports	O
both	O
communities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
developers	O
widely	O
use	O
both	O
VB.NET	B-Language
and	O
C#	B-Application
as	O
primary	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
C#	B-Application
has	O
more	O
community	O
activity	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
and	O
there	O
are	O
more	O
books	O
available	O
for	O
C#	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
may	O
indicate	O
either	O
that	O
there	O
is	O
more	O
adoption	O
of	O
C#	B-Application
or	O
that	O
users	O
need	O
more	O
help	O
with	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
original	O
C#	B-Application
language	O
designer	O
,	O
Scott	O
Wiltamuth	O
,	O
stated	O
in	O
a	O
March	O
2010	O
blog	O
that	O
the	O
"	O
most	O
reliable	O
numbers	O
we	O
have	O
...	O
show	O
roughly	O
equal	O
adoption	O
"	O
for	O
VB.NET	B-Language
and	O
C#	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
2007	O
Forrester	O
Research	O
poll	O
revealed	O
that	O
59%	O
of	O
.NET	B-Application
developers	O
used	O
only	O
VB.NET	B-Language
to	O
create	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
Express	O
is	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
download	O
of	O
all	O
the	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Express	I-Application
downloads	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Stephen	O
Wiley	O
,	O
marketing	O
product	O
manager	O
at	O
Apress	O
has	O
reported	O
"	O
C#	B-Application
titles	O
outsell	O
VB.NET	B-Language
title	O
books	O
handily	O
,	O
by	O
somewhere	O
between	O
a	O
2	O
–	O
1	O
and	O
3	O
–	O
1	O
margin.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
2018	O
Stack	O
Overflow	O
developers	O
user	O
survey	O
stated	O
that	O
35%	O
of	O
professional	O
developers	O
used	O
C#	B-Application
while	O
only	O
6.9	O
%	O
used	O
VB.NET	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
C++	B-Language
/CLI	I-Language
(	O
a	O
replacement	O
for	O
Managed	B-Language
Extensions	I-Language
for	I-Language
C++	I-Language
)	O
does	O
not	O
have	O
the	O
adoption	O
rate	O
of	O
C#	B-Application
or	O
VB.NET	B-Language
,	O
but	O
does	O
have	O
a	O
significant	O
following	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
C++	B-Language
/CLI	I-Language
syntactically	O
,	O
stylistically	O
,	O
and	O
culturally	O
is	O
closest	O
to	O
C#	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
C++	B-Language
/CLI	I-Language
stays	O
closer	O
to	O
its	O
C++	B-Language
roots	O
than	O
C#	B-Application
does	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
C++	B-Language
/CLI	I-Language
directly	O
supports	O
pointers	O
,	O
destructors	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
unsafe	B-Language
program	O
concepts	O
which	O
are	O
not	O
supported	O
or	O
limited	O
in	O
the	O
other	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
allows	O
the	O
direct	O
use	O
of	O
both	O
.NET	B-Application
code	O
and	O
standard	O
C++	B-Language
code	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
C++	B-Language
/CLI	I-Language
is	O
used	O
for	O
porting	O
native/legacy	O
C++	B-Language
applications	O
into	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
framework	I-Application
,	O
or	O
cases	O
where	O
the	O
programmer	O
wants	O
to	O
take	O
more	O
control	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
;	O
but	O
this	O
control	O
comes	O
at	O
a	O
significant	O
cost	O
of	O
ease	B-General_Concept
of	I-General_Concept
use	I-General_Concept
and	O
readability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
the	O
automated	O
tools	O
that	O
come	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
have	O
reduced	O
functionality	O
when	O
interacting	O
with	O
C++	B-Language
code	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
J#	B-Language
runs	O
a	O
distant	O
fourth	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
adoption	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
J#	B-Language
is	O
a	O
language	O
primarily	O
designed	O
to	O
ease	O
the	O
transition	O
of	O
Java	B-Language
applications	O
to	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
framework	I-Application
;	O
it	O
allows	O
developers	O
to	O
leave	O
much	O
of	O
their	O
Java	B-Language
or	O
J++	O
code	O
unchanged	O
while	O
still	O
running	O
it	O
in	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
framework	I-Application
,	O
thus	O
allowing	O
them	O
to	O
migrate	O
small	O
pieces	O
of	O
it	O
into	O
another	O
.NET	B-Application
language	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
C#	B-Application
,	O
individually	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
J#	B-Language
does	O
not	O
receive	O
the	O
same	O
level	O
of	O
updates	O
as	O
the	O
other	O
languages	O
,	O
and	O
does	O
not	O
have	O
the	O
same	O
level	O
of	O
community	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2005	O
Team	O
System	O
supports	O
automatic	O
generation	O
of	O
Unit	O
Tests	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
,	O
VB.Net	B-Language
,	O
and	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
but	O
excludes	O
J#	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
J#	B-Language
has	O
been	O
discontinued	O
and	O
is	O
not	O
included	O
in	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2008	I-Application
or	O
newer	O
versions	O
,	O
since	O
the	O
existing	O
J#	B-Language
feature	O
set	O
largely	O
meets	O
customer	O
needs	O
and	O
usage	O
of	O
J#	B-Language
is	O
declining	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
.NET	B-Application
languages	O
compile	O
down	O
to	O
Common	O
Intermediate	O
Language	O
(	O
CIL	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
contains	O
rich	O
metadata	O
and	O
is	O
functionally	O
and	O
logically	O
equivalent	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
.NET	B-Application
language	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
equivalency	O
of	O
CIL	O
to	O
.NET	B-Application
language	O
code	O
permits	O
tools	O
such	O
as	O
.NET	B-Application
Reflector	I-Application
to	O
transform	O
a	O
.NET	B-Application
assembly	O
into	O
source	O
code	O
that	O
is	O
nearly	O
identical	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Code	O
obfuscators	O
are	O
often	O
used	O
to	O
guard	O
against	O
this	O
,	O
and	O
operate	O
by	O
directly	O
modifying	O
the	O
CIL	O
of	O
an	O
assembly	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
difficult	O
or	O
impossible	O
to	O
de-compile	O
to	O
a	O
higher	O
level	O
.NET	B-Application
language	O
.	O
</s>
