Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 20th Jul 2009 15:54 UTC, submitted by Brandon L
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Member since:
2006-03-01
.NET generics are much more memory efficient than java generics because they are preserved at runtime. On the other hand, the java approach of making everything an object at runtime makes covariance for collections in modern languages like scala easier.
I actually think that martin odersky (the author of java generics and of scala) has created java generics with something like scala in mind.
I am not sure which approach is better. There are some gaping holes in .net platform like the inability to use operators on generic types or the lack of inlining of the JIT compiler, but it seems that nobody at microsoft will do anything about this any time soon. See for example these feedback items from almost five years ago:
http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.asp...
http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.asp...
The new native APIs like Direct2D and DirectWrite that do not even have a managed wrapper suggest that microsoft has given up on .NET for windows application development, and now see it as a platform for business applications and glue code.