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I started my career coding in C/C++ on a vax system, but got into a few contracts where it was all VB and then became a specialist in VB, then to VB.net. Now I am aspiring to work for Microsoft and it seems that every job they post is in C/C++/C# and I can barely read C# code, it looks like the most convoluted mess to me and the inline syntax almost hurts my feelings.
I am looking for positive, non-flaming, helpful suggestions on how to pick up C# skills again. Books..Labs..etc? I have been coding simple projects using Silverlight and C# to try and work it out but it is extremely frustrating since there are very few examples that I can find that illustrate what each code set looks like. I've Googled but have yet to find anything helpful other than channel9 labs and working through some of the example code/projects from mix10.
I am not looking for a shortcut, but a good solid skills understanding. I swear it is easier to translate English to Latin than VB to C#.
I personally would start by converting a VB.NET project into C#, having done VB.NET it wouldn't be difficult once you got started as they both use the same underlying CLR.
Doing it this way step by step, looking up how to convert each bit you don't understand, you'll soon end up teaching yourself C# based on you're knowledge of VB.NET and you'll see they're really not that much different!
I find them very similar now I know them both, they just have a habit of doing things 'slightly' differently.
Also, have a look at this wiki page for a summary comparison of VB.NET and C#, and check out the examples at the bottom to see some basic syntax comparisons that will give you a starting point for converting VB.NET into C#.
Since VB.NET and C# are both first-class object-oriented .NET languages that compile down to the nearly the same CIL code, I find it fairly easy to switch between the two. Most of the learning curve in .NET comes from learning the myriad APIs; syntax doesn't take terribly long to pick up.
I'd recommend a good book that focuses on the language of C# (that is, not a framework such as Winforms, Silverlight, or WPF). A book that I really liked was Illustrated C# 2008 by Daniel Solis. It's great at exposing the C# language from end to end. (NOTE: Although it says "Illustrated" in the title, it's not filled with lots of pretty pictures. "Illustrated" simply means that the author uses lots of helpful diagrams to explain concepts).
Also, I spent a good deal of time solving math problems at http://www.projecteuler.net in order to learn C#. It helps to have real problems to solve to learn a language and Project Euler offers problems that are small enough that you can still focus on learning different aspects of the language.
It's odd that you are having this difficulty if you can still remember anything about C. I have a similar background but I don't find C# hard to read at all.
Are you getting confused by LINQ or lambdas / anonymous methods? EDIT you say it's LINQ: here are some links for LINQ.
The LINQ syntax is different in VB from C# and there's not much help out there for the VB syntax. The MSDN 101 VB LINQ samples are good, and I also liked the coverage in the book Programming VB 2008.
Lambdas are a way of writing methods inline that might be the "inline syntax" you are referring to? In which case, just read up on them and try them out: you could try them out in C# or VB.Net.
There were some useful articles on differences between C# and VB.Net in Visual Studio magazine back in Jan 2008.
What VB developers should know about C#
And for completeness, What C# developers should know about VB
You might also be interested in the question "what's allowed in VB that is prohibited in C# (or vice versa)"
Full disclosure: the bottom part of this answer is copied almost unchanged from this question on converting C# knowledge to VB.Net
Buy "Head first C#" and enjoy yourself coding. It is the best book (according to me and a few others) on the market learning C#.
Scott Hanselman posts a regular column of his blog called the "Weekly Source Code", which is made of source code -- generally C# --- which you can learn from by reading.
My first choice is that given by W69rdy: convert some project you've already done in VB to C#.
Second, I would skim the C# documentation, or an online source like that suggested by James, at least once a day looking for something you don't understand. Perhaps something as simple as a language keyword you don't recognize. Then write something that uses it: even something as simple as a small snippet.
If you are looking for a quick read and tutorial, this one will work. I agree with #TechNeilogy and #W69rdy that converting a program from VB.NET to C# will help with understanding the similiarities and differences between the languarges.
I converted a VB.NET Windows service to a C# Windows service and it helped greatly with trying to learn C#.
I was a VB .NET programmer as well. I found that using Jetbrain's Resharper Visual Studio plug-in really helped my learning curve. I was initially converting/optimizing a VB .NET project into C# and I found the coding assistance tools really helpful. Most of the time, I was just trying to find the C# equivalent so code completion usually put me in the right direction.
I've also recently been moving to C# from VB - I've found this converter invaluable as a learning tool when you don't know a bit of C# syntax but you can write it in VB.
You should start with some C# tutorials in internet to understand the how to work with c#, then read a book with maximum 300 pages.
After that you can start the converting from VB to C#. It is not difficult.
Good luck.
I use both vb.net and c# at work. Sometimes in the same project even. Honestly, when you switch back and forth, after the first couple misplaced or missing ; or Dim's, it's pretty easy to jump between the two. The rest of the stuff (class modifiers, event handlers, etc.) is only a quick google away.
The only way you are really going to make the step across, is to just make the step across and run with it!
Sure, check out a basic tutorial or read a guide on C# to learn the syntax basics, but then you need to find a reasonably simple, self-contained project to get stuck into. If you know some of the .NET framework (which you presumably do), then the jump won't actually be that great. Obviously, don't pick a vast, complex, mission-critical system to start with!
In fact, although my current project is my first c# project, I can't believe I didn't make the switch earlier. Apart from enjoying C#, I'm also finding it easier because I'm finding there are more good quality examples around.
I don't mean this patronisingly, but the answer is to simply start coding in C#!
There are plenty of books, resources, training CDs (check out AppDev.com for some great video based training) but nothing compares to just coding for real-life problems!
(And I agree with a previous comment about converting a recent project to C#.)
"That which we learn to do, we learn by doing" Aristotle
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I have been developing applications using VB.net for the past 5 years. As I tried to learn Java earlier and found it very difficult for me I did stick on to VB.net. And for me C# is more or less similar to Java.
Now I cannot get away with it. I have to code on C#. Is there a way I can get to speed with C# fast. I would really appreciate if you can let me know your thoughts and if there are any good resources I can try.
If you have been doing VB.NET for that long then the underlying OOP concepts in that language and your experience with the .NET Framework put you in an excellent position to learn C# quickly. This means all you really need to learn is a new syntax and the best way to do that is to practice.
First, don't panic. The syntax is slightly different, but in my experience, most people that I've worked with who have been developing in VB.Net are able to get over that and get up to speed in a week or so.
The main thing to remember is that they are both .NET,and it's the .NET Framework and the Class Library that do all the work. It's not like Java where you would have to learn a whole new set of libraries. In C#, a System.Text.StringBuilder is the same System.Text.StringBuilder you would use in VB. The learning curve really isn't that bad if you keep this fact in mind.
Plus, if you're using the MSDN library, there are examples in both languages in almost every case, so you can pick up a lot of the differences just by using the examples.
I find language translators useful:
http://www.developerfusion.com/tools/convert/vb-to-csharp/
I am working on a presentation & want to include both VB.NET and C# code. If I don't know how to translate something from C# to VB.NET, I dump the code into the translator and I learn.
I have relearned VB.NET stuff that I have since forgotten. I'm sure that it will work the other way around.
You can try http://converter.telerik.com/ far better than conversion engine of DeveloperFusion.
I think the best way would be probably buy a book on 'Learning C#' ... why? Because its a structured approach.
You'll fly through the book because you already understand programming concepts such as data types, loops etc.
I find Wrox books are great for these topics:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beginning-Microsoft-Visual-2008-Guides/dp/047019135X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273327223&sr=8-1
Depending how serious you are, you could also purchase the 'Professional' edition by Wrox for more complex parts of C#.
I prefer the book option because its route through the langauage... the only other way would be to keep researching on google/msdn on to find out how to do things in C#... which might get annoying and tiresome.
As others have said, once you have a good grasp of C# you will be able to reopen your older VB.NET projects and actually convert them to c# with ease.
HTH
Actually, if you've been doing VB.NET for last couple of years the transition shouldn't be as hard as you make it out since the language are very similar. You just have to look at the tons of online C# to VB.NET code translators that are available for evidence. Well several years ago when I was porting over VB.NET to C# code the main things it would choke on was arrays since syntax is different enough and case sensitivity since VB isn't case sensitive. Nowadays, there might be more problems though will all the additions they keep adding to C#.
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C# has a good momentum at the moment. What are the features that you would need to have in order to switch (or return) to Java?
It would also be quite useful if people posted workarounds for these for the current Java versions, e.g. Nullables being wrapped around custom classes, to make this a much more interesting wiki.
As a .NET/C# developer here are the missing features that annoy me. This list in no particular order - just as thoughts come to mind:
The Java library is too small. For common things I have to choose between 5 competing open source products because the base library is lacking in so many ways.
This is an Object Oriented programming language right? Why in the heck do primitive types not inherit from "object"?
Pointers
Lambdas
Closures
Partial Classes and to a lesser extent partial Methods
Real support for Generics
Using statements and Dispose - this was a real WTF for me. You really have to explicitly close connections in try/catch blocks. Poor Java guys!
Yield return would be nice
Unsigned integers - again WTF? I have to use number types larger than I need for what purpose again?
In Java you can return from final blocks of try/catch. A co-worker confused the hell out of me for hours by introducing a bug this way. This behavior should be prohibited as in C#.
I rarely have to use Java and when I do, I have all sorts of WTF moments.
Edit: I Removed for-each comment based on the fact it is no longer a missing Java feature since 1.5.
In my experience, Java vs. .Net is more of a business decision than a technical one. Shops with MS experience trend towards .Net and shops with Java experience trend towards Java & OSS. I've seen little evidence of people switching based upon language features. On the other hand, I've seen shops heavily tilt towards one platform b/c of one or two key employees they wanted to hire being knowledgeable in that area.
in no particular order:
function pointers (delegates); the whole passing interfaces around thing is stupid
real generics; what's the point of having type safe generics if the compiler can't even hold the meta data through a unit's compilation?
ui speed; all the self-drawing ui libraries are very slow compared to native controls wrapped in "managed" libraries, not to mention that microsoft's self-drawn ui is hardware accelerated through direct3d
an yield return construct; c# is so user friendly in this it's crazy
operator overloading
linq; just cuz its so addicting
properties; more synctatic sugar you get addicted to
better interop with native code; c#'s p/invoke and native com support makes interop so easy compared to jni -.-
first class value types; this goes hand in hand with real generics, having generic lists that never box/unbox in c# is part of why c# is faster than java.
and i'd say this is the most important one:
a responsive, informative debugger; nothing can even come close to visual studio right now
Just going off the cuff, I think the biggest thing Java 7 needs that everyone is lamenting the lack of is closures.
I'm a C# programmer and about one year ago I had to participate in the development of an application in Java. What I missed the most was:
Visual Studio (Eclipse is nice, but
VS is VS, especially Team Edition)
Comparing strings with ==
Properties
Basic types as first-class objects
(e.g. not "int" type vs "Integer"
class)
Anonymous methods (a workaround can
be made by using anonymous classes
but it is not the same)
LINQ
And there was one single Java feature that I missed when I went back to C#: explicit exception declaration in method signatures.
DISCLAIMER: I am speaking about a somewhat old project, I don't know if some of these features are present in current versions of Java.
Less heinous XML parsing and manipulation tools. Doing anything with XML in Java sucks.
I'll also give one answer the other way around. C# needs an enumeration implementation like Java has. Java's enumerations rock!
Let me add anonymous overrides to this list also. Sorry to go off topic, but C# needs the ability to anonymously override methods. I have been switching back and forth between Java and C#, and I have to say for unit testing legacy code, there is nothing better than anonymous class overriding.
I would need function pointers of some sort. The ability to use delegates in C# is so useful. There are so many times in Java where I want to create a map of delegates or function pointers as the solution, but I can't. I know you can simulate a similar thing in Java, but having the abstraction as part of the language is a huge plus!
Momentum. I have done a lot of development on both platforms. I'm enjoying the .NET side more because of the way the C# language is evolving. Java's evolution seems to be more a reaction to C# than an actual vision. So I think the best thing for Java to do is ignore .NET and create something new of its own.
Another one I would like is some equivalent to LINQ. I noticed how much I actually depend on the ability to use LINQ when I tried to do a top coder competition and realized they only support .NET 2.0. Once you get used to using LINQ to solve problem and make it part of your regular programming vocabulary it is very difficult to not see problems in that light. It is akin to using generics and then not being able to use generic.
I think, choice between Java and C# is not a question of language features, but a question of platform and ecosystem choice.
So, I doubt that any new syntactic sugar in Java or C# can lead to a significant amount of switchers between the platforms.
After all, JVM world has Scala and many language-sensitive developers are using it in some way.
I think, you should consider swithcing this holywar from "Java vs C#" to "JVM vs CLR", because JVM is (in the last years — mostly) not only Java, but also Scala, Groovy, Clojure, JRuby, Jython, and dozen of JVM-languages.
Properties!
Anonymous objects are nice too
Continuations, like Scala (on top of the rest) would be good too, for agents development.
Support to run over CLR (and vice versa perhaps for JVM) without IKVM and other such layers.
Let's be clear that we need to distinguish between Java and the JVM. I actually switched from C# to Java, but I admit it was not because of Java's amazing language features! In my very humble opinion, C# is the better language, and CLR is the perhaps a more elegant VM. However, even with Mono, you're not writing applications that run everywhere!
I think the greatest argument for Java is the amazing community it has. This is where the cutting edge technology is being developed, not at Sun (now Oracle). The Java community has consistently been the leader in developing Enterprise technologies. For instance, how long did it take Microsoft to provide a DI Framework? Where's AOP in .NET? When I start a .NET project, my foundation is Spring.NET, a Java port. When I need ORM, it's NHibernate. Need a testing framework? NUnit. I realize there are other OSS projects for the .NET platform, but their numbers and support from Microsoft are laughable compared to the Java community.
on the other side, has .net got enterprise open projects like Terracotta (semi commerical), Infinispan, Compass ? no. ncache (commerical), lucene.net are far behind them. Especially Terracotta is unique, it can improve some of your app x100, it's simply perfect and free (partitioning is commerical). If we implement a high load app in both .net with anything and java with terracotta + hibernate + terracotta-hibernate-integration, java app will probably far more performant than .net one. Ther're some ports to .net like nhibernate, log4net, lucene.net, but all of them are trying to catch java versions. And entity framework is a disaster, they have to start with nhibernate as the base or get some lessons from them.
.net is only working on windows (mono is far from enterprise, there isn't any enterprises using it), how much money does myspace.com spent for their 4000 windows web server licences ? 1 million ?
You can't install a simple plugin to VS (and can't do some other things) if don't buy professional edition,
Some windows instance types in amazon web services are nearly x2 price of the linux ones.
if you look at ohloh.net open source java project counts (with language comparison tools), you'll see that java has x5 more volume than c#.
also Java has %20 share on worldwide while c# has %4.x (source:tiobe.com)
Look at the top web sites; only microsoft and myspace are using .net. google, amazon, ebay, linkedin, alibaba, twitter (switched to scala from rails)... many of them are using java and many others are using php, ruby (facebook, yahoo,..)
As a language Java is far behind c#, but Scala (runs on jvm) is as good as c# and it's performance is nearly same as java and also it can use all jdk and other java code as his library.
I'm not saying java is better, but I'm saying java is as valuable as .net, too.
A native 'decimal' type for Java replacing the BigDecimal class would be nice. But Java thread-safe collections are nice.
Perhaps the question is not so much what Java 7 needs to persuade developers to use it, but more a case of what makes developers want to move from Enterprise/server-side java language to a different C# desktop Windows-only oriented world?
For most developers, the language isn't difficult to pick up be it Java or C#. I develop in Java, but Linq didn't take long to understand and use.
I think the choice of Java or C# depends on what motivates you personally -perhaps money? in which case either language will do whether they have certain features or not.
Ste
They should start by fixing the Calendar/Date related classes, even that seems too much to ask.
A simple way to map values in your model to the UI (like bind in Java/FX)
I think it depends on bussiness decisions, not the languages themselves.
But I really really really love C# lambdas and curry :D :D
http://mikeomatic.net/?p=82
a map({codeblock}) which runs over anything iterable would be nice. And filter too. And being able to return multiple values easily from a method.
(a,b,c) = getThreeValues();
(would assign the individual variables a, b and c).
Actually I just think they should have Haskell as a supported scripting language on the JVM :D
linq, lambda, anonymous types
I don't see any point in "luring" anyone anywhere. They solve different problems and you should use whichever one suits you.
Java has less "Language" and less structures to trip up new people, it's platform independent and it doesn't change too fast allowing old code to stick around for a LONG time (Good for some large companies).
C# has tight desktop integration and a slew of nice features that make it more fun to program. It has .net integration. It has pointers, closures, etc which make it harder for n00bs (a valid language target, hence Basic) but more fun for experienced programmers--I haven't convinced myself that these features make you more productive, but in some situations they can make your code a lot nicer! Also if you need pointers, you need pointers.
I don't see a whole lot of overlap in target audiences. Why change a language to attract programmers when it's healthier for the entire industry to have two healthy languages each targeted at solving different problems attracting different developers?
At a colleague's workplace, a decision is trying to be made about whether to use both languages in the workplace or to standardize on one? There are some VB.Net developers and some C# developers.
What advantages or disadvantages would there be to using both or to using one?
Edit: To clarify this question, the question is not asking the advantages of one over the other, rather what are the advantages/disadvantage of standardizing on both languages versus standardizing on one.
For instance, one point could be that C#/VB.Net may have more third party tools available and hence it may make sense to standardize all developers on that language.
We should probably put on our Reality Glasses for this discussion. It's not just Syntactic Sugar going on here.
You will find that you can write code very quickly in Visual Basic.NET. That is largely due to some features that it has that C# does not yet provide: namely, the My namespace, which provides a plethora of functionality that C# developers have to frequently code by hand. (And that's a damned shame, if you ask me.)
I code in both languages every day. Coding event handlers for forms in Visual Basic is a snap, and it's VERY obvious what methods handle which events. It's not always as clear in C#. On the other hand, you can't always be as explicit in Visual Basic as you want to be, because Visual Basic does so much of the work for you. C# has the advantage of just getting the heck out of your way, and letting you get down to the nuts and bolts. Quite often, that's extremely liberating.
VB will let you invoke static/shared methods on an object instance. C# won't. You'll learn that the hard way when you try to port your code. C# will complain about unreachable code; VB doesn't care one way or the other.
But under the hood, when you get right down to it, it's all .NET. It all compiles down to MSIL. There will be minor differences. Visual Basic, for example, doesn't care about the case-sensitivity of names, where C# does. And the big gotcha there is that the CLR does as well. You'll realize that when you try to use reflection. Does that mean you shouldn't use VB? Nope. Just make sure you case things consistently -- especially your namespaces. (Namespace "My" and namespace "my" are two completely different namespaces to C# and the CLR, but they're the same to VB.)
Choose the language that makes you most productive, that reduces ramp-up time and maintenance costs. You may find that that means working with both languages. (We do!)
EDIT TO ADDRESS OP'S EDIT:
Refactoring tools are available for both languages.
Automated unit testing tools are equally applicable.
3rd party controls are going to be available for both languages because they're compiled down to MSIL.
Now, for IDE productivity tools, the one thing that C# has at this time that VB doesn't is StyleCop. That may change soon (and I hope it does), but I don't view it as a roadblock by any stretch of the imagination.
This is personal experience mixed with workplace lore:
VB.NET is capable of being little more nimble, compared to C#, because there isn't a standards committee (except for any that may exist at Microsoft).
Most of the Google-able code hackery out there is done in C#, and most of the best resource books provide code samples in C# only.
VB.NET is tainted with a history of VB being accessible to even the most incapable of developers. This is unfair, imho, because VB.NET is much more a "real" language. But the taint isn't going to be washed away any time soon, and "real" programmers still generally despise it.
As for real life - I code in my own time in C# and VB.NET at work. I believe that because so much of the code one writes for .NET is calls against the framework objects, the differences are actually quite small. If you can declare variables in both languages you're 80% to being portable. If you understand the framework, the syntax of the languages is a small obstacle.
EDIT to directly answer your question: We happily use both (though mainly VB.NET) and haven't ever had any problems. We use Visual Studio which allows us to pretty freely mix code files/assemblies. I would encourage you not to limit to a single language - I think some diversity is good for the brain.
My workplace had traditionally been a VB.Net shop, but a decision was made a couple years ago to switch to C#. This happened mostly because the VB developers had either left or moved into other positions and most of the new hires preferred C#. We still have a large legacy VB.Net code base, but all new development is being done in C#.
I don't think there's a strong technical reason to choose one language over the other, as they are pretty equivalent in functionality, but I do feel there are some valid reasons to choose one type of developer over the other. While I believe VB and C# are equal, there's is the unfortunate perception that C# developers are better than VB developers. While there is some justification for this, it's overblown. (It was more applicable in the C++/VB days.) That said, the perception exists. This does cause some talented developers to avoid and bash VB (though they usually do so from ignorance). I do think it's harder to hire developers into a VB shop than visa versa, because a C# developer will often balk at the idea of having to use VB, but VB developers usually aren't as opposed to using C#. There is one significant disadvantage to choosing C# over VB and that's that C# developers generally get paid more.
In my experience, the best developers welcome using both languages. The more languages you know, the better.
After tracking your question for a little bit and noting your edit, I have to wonder if you're fishing a little bit...
Either way, I think it's fairly obvious that at least the latest third-party tools favor C#. I, like the other responders, code VB for work and prefer C# for other development. I have definitely noticed that the documentation for many third-party addins/plugins and in some cases the products themselves favor C#. ReSharper, even though 4.5 has better VB support, is still vastly more comprehensive when using C#. And other frameworks, like Fluent NHibernate, don't support VB at all. So for tooling, especially when considering late-breaking stuff, I believe that C# wins. Not to mention the fact that C# got a few new features in 3.0 that won't be available until VB 10 makes a wide release.
I still agree whole-heartedly with the others; if you can do it in C#, you can do it in VB. It's all the same CLR, in the end.
I'd say given that there are "some VB.NET developers and some C# developers," there really is very little benefit to forcing everyone to use one language. Frankly even a VB.NET developer who's never looked at C# should be able to read C# code with no more than a brief introduction to the syntax, assuming he/she has a reasonable understanding of the .NET framework; and a C# developer should be able to do the same with VB.NET.
(I should also add: this is assuming everyone has access to a development environment in which the .NET languages can co-exist harmoniously -- e.g., VS2005, VS2008, etc., as opposed to one of the Express Editions, which as far as I know don't allow multi-language solutions.)
Don't fall for the "most examples / books are written for C#". Working out how to apply a C# example to VB.NET is trivial -- you'll have more trouble trying to understand what the moron who wrote the example / book is trying to do and what their hideous coding (un)convention is all about than you will mentally flipping C# syntax to VB syntax.
Also I'd say don't worry about whether you hire C# or VB.NET programmers: if they are any good at all then they won't have a problem with reading / writing both languages.
We use both here, and after a little resistance from some (we were using C++ before) have settled down fine. As I had predicted, the hardest thing for our team was (and probably still is) the conversion from MFC to .NET, not the language used to access the libraries.
FWIW our main split is VB.NET for UI code, and C# for backend / database / computation code.
C# and VB.net are the same with a different syntax. You can convert from C# to VB.net and back very easily.
VB.net does have a few extra advantages that C# does not, such as inline XML.
Most places have C# because its the more popular language.
I started out as a VB developer so naturally I migrated to VB.Net when I first worked with .Net. In fact my first .Net application was made in VB.Net too. But I tried out C# and found myself liking it better in a matter of weeks.
So I made some of that app in C# (some libraries) and it didn't hurt me. Now though I hate going back to the older VB.Net code and working on it. I really wish I could change it all to C# somehow.
That's not going to happen.
So what I am telling you here is, irrelevant of what language you choose (VB/C#) stick to it. Don't do mixed language development unless you have a compelling reason I can't think of yet :)
The advantage of standardizing on a single language is that basically everyone will have 1/2 as much to learn. I think it's better to spend the time learning more features of .NET, within a single language, rather than learning 1/2 the features in both.
As far as hiring goes, it does not really restrict you as a good VB or C# programmer should be able to switch to the other language without difficulty (or else they aren't really a good programmer :)
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I want to know why I should learn C#?
What features does C# have that Java does not?
C# is an object-oriented high-level language which can be useful to develop applications.
It supports getter/setter constructs, delegates and true generics, which Java does not.
C# usually feels more "native" on Windows, since Windows.Forms and WPF are closer to native code than Swing.
However, Java is more cross-platform than C#(even though project "Mono" is changing that)
There's a whole lot of differences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_C_Sharp_and_Java
Whether you should use one over the other depends on your priorities. What do you want to write in them?
C# (and other the CLR languages) have aspects of functional programming (such as delegates and closures) that make some types of development and design patterns easier. See this post by Steve Yegge for more. Delegates can make code much more expressive and concise.
You should learn both, and use each of them as appropriate. I don't feel like it's a "which one should I learn?" kind of question. (Or a "I know Java, why should I learn C#?" question.) That comparison that Welbog posted will help you decide when to use one over the other. But, myself, I like having both in my toolkit.
Syntax:
They are both reasonable languages--they support pretty much the same high level structures and designs (OO, encapsulation, ...) and are fairly equal up until you get down to the code level (which overall isn't that big a deal. C# beats java in features, Java beats C# in simplicity I guess).
Portability:
My biggest factor has been that lately I've worked on apps for a spectrum analyzer and upcoming cable systems. Neither would have been remotely programmable in C# (you are completely reliant on microsoft to port the runtime to your platform of interest. Java is open source (there may still be one or two little pieces that aren't, but they are sincerely working on that and it's enough that you can port it and use it just about anywhere.
If you are only ever interested in Windows and if you'd like to take advantage of tight, simple integration with windows, then C# is the platform for you.
VM
Both languages include a "Runtime" that can support other languages--and those other languages generally have access to the (very rich) libraries provided in each environment.
Microsoft can run a few (a dozen) languages on it's VM, none as impressive as C# (although Ruby and Python could be good--are they fully available yet)?
The JVM has a few hundred including some cutting-edge experimental languages that often run as well as or better than their native counterparts. Some are considered the next generation in programming, as different from Java/C# as they were from C. I looked into Scala, but I must be getting old, it just hurt my head, but I admit there are some very advanced concepts available in there. Groovy rocks.
System integration/tools:
C# wins hands down since Java can't commit to any one platform. C# is also very well integrated with databases and other external dependencies, Java is getting better integrated, but the tools are a little more mismatched. C# the entire toolset tends to be very integrated since it all tends to come from a single vendor.
Number of platforms using it (number of potential customers):
Last I heard, Java wins hands down. WAY down. Every try to figure out how many phones, microwaves, TVs and toasters might be running Java? The number dwarfs every other language combined as I understand it...
the only reason you should is because you want to
C# is a
multi-paradigm programming language that encompasses functional, imperative, generic, object-oriented (class-based), and component-oriented programming disciplines
so you get to learn a lot of tricks from different paradigms, all in a single language
There are lots of questions that people have asked on this topic already. Read up, they've got good infos there. :)
The biggest reason, imho, why is because (for windows desktop apps at least) Java UI is godawful ugly. Fugly ugly. Vomitously ugly. Ugly like the kid you'd have if you impregnated your sister.
If you are required to run on any OS, Java is your best option (tho Mono is catching up!). But if you're programming for the Windows environment, C# is a dream to code and looks like any other native application.
Other than that, I'd say Linq. And the ability to fail fast on exceptions rather than having to handle exceptions everywhere (like we actually know how to handle each and every exception). Oh, and Linq again. Linq is so beautiful... to me... Can't you see?
Crap, forgot about lambdas. Damn, I love lambdas and all their closure goodness.
Simple answer -- C# is the primary language for developing Micorosft applications at this point. Learning it opens up a new world of potential opportunities to work on Microsoft-based applications.
Also, it's not really that hard to learn. Just a little harder than VB was, but with lots of OO power.
Some people would say C# is Microsoft's Java -- actually they look almost identical, just minor differences but different class libraries. If you already know Java, picking up C# shouldn't be too hard.
I can't believe nobody has posted this yet..
Because, it is a fun language. Personally I think Java is a rather nasty language (still can be fun), but not as enjoyable as C#.
Do you need to learn C#?
Is your job situation going to improve?
Do you want to learn something new?
Is the development environment better in C#, is the tooling better?
Do you think you can do something in C#, that you can't do in Java?
Maybe a generic language for desktop, web and mobile - but Java has this as well.
Just a few questions you could use to decide.
I'm C# myself, started out in Java when I was introduced to programming. I think Java did a fantastic job for me in understanding programming, mostly because there were no magic IntelliSense, or form designer for Windows apps - we had to write the whole damn thing our selves. Which was good, when you're learning. But I think C# and the whole .NET/Visual Studio eco-system enables you to be more productive.
More important than the feature of the language are the run-time environment and the libraries.
C# and Java have a different set of libraries, frameworks, operating system interactions, etc.
Based on the question seems like you are not interested in learning it for the sake of knowing more about programming and clearly looking for practical reasons.
That is why I don't think you should bother learning it, since it will be just another tool to accomplish same thing in your toolbox.
I like what Welbog wrote. I would add that it would also depend on where you're at professionally, your interests, and your job prospects /interests.
If you're you've just started to learn Java, then picking up a little C# might help in terms of broadening your programming horizons. The languages are similar (roughly speaking), but of course there are nuances to say the least in programming in one versus another. If you've been programming Java for awhile, then perhaps you'd be better off either expanding your J2EE area of expertise or maybe looking at other supporting areas and/or languages.
In terms of job prospects, you might find companies in your area hire more .NET developers than Java, or vice-versa. You might also want to look at companies you want to work for and make sure your skill set matches. For example, if you've dreamed at working at a particular firm who uses JSP, just as an example, then sticking with Java would be better.
It is not C# that you should want to learn but .NET Framework and related technologies.
Think rather J2EE vs .NET.
Why would you want to learn .NET? It's up to you to decide. Like Java it's one of the few major development platforms. It is functional, very actively developed and supported with a huge community knowledge base.
To me the choice is as simple as I need to use .NET libraries, so I'll use C# or I need to use Java libraries so I'll use Java. If I'm working on something on a Windows client I'll use C#, if I'm working on something that needs to run against the P6 Integration API I'll use Java.
You shouldn't feel like you you are missing something or should use one or the other. Look at what you have to do and pick the best tool for doing that.
It's tough to list on a post here all the features of the .NET Framework, just like it would be tough to list all the features contained in the Java SDK Libraries.
Learning C# because it may or may not have features that Java doesn't have seems like a very odd reason in opinion (it does have a number of features, that Java doesn't but so does F#, LISP, Haskel, Ruby, Lua and even COBOL).
You should learn C# because
You need to (to keep or get a job, stay in school, whatever)
You want to
It is fun to expand your horizon
Any or all of the above
There are some syntactic sugar advantages in .NET such as LINQ or Properties. (Yes, you don't have properties - not to mention auto-properties - in Java).
Strategically, it helps to know several languages as demonstrated by a little research. Currently, PHP, Java, and ASP.NET (C#) are the most widely used server-side programming technologies (see https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/programming_language/all). Therefore, knowing all three empowers your backend engineering potential.