You can use
Mono
- An open source C# compiler for unix.
IDE Responsiveness -
ever work with a really large VB.Net project in Visual Studio?
C# is an ECMA standards
compliant language with a formal definition and a corresponding
abundance of third party and open source tools. VB is at
Microsoft's mercy to do whatever they want with it - and they
sometimes do. Ever do a large VB6 to VB.Net migration?
C# Code is Faster than VB.Net Code.
Not all MSIL is generated equal in the .Net family of
languages. VB.Net is the slowest, C# is faster, and C++ is faster still. Here are some links to check out:
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=5602&page=3
Terseness and readibility of code. C# follows the C, C++, Java syntax tradition, while VB is more verbose, with its End While, End Loop, and End Namespace type of statements, instead of simply "}".
Improved Code Quality - C# catches many errors allowed in VB.Net, such as variable use before initialization and dead code. It also doesn't allow some of the more horrible things of VB.Net, such as undeclared variables, untyped variables, and untyped methods.
You can use the
Eclipse development environment
with C#. Many consider the Eclipse development environment the best there is - and it's free. The C# Plug-in for Eclipse is also free and open source.
You can use
Borland's C# Builder
, with it's cool ECO modeling features.
You can use
DotGNU
- Another open source C# compiler which supports many operating systems: GNU/Linux (on PCs, Sparc, iPAQ, Sharp Zaurus, PlayStation 2, Xbox,...), BSD, Cygwin/Mingw32, Mac OS X, Solaris, and AIX.
Use "Unsafe" code.
C# allows you to define sections of "Unsafe" code, where you can use pointers and directly access memory. It's like writing a C program within a C# program. This is necessary for low level system access and performance and tuning. There is nothing comparable in VB.Net.
