Competitive Reports and Evidence: Comparing .NET to J2EE

This site contains extensive materials designed to help you evaluate Microsoft .NET vs. J2EE application server technologies. Each area below contains downloadable whitepapers, benchmark comparisons, and sample source code. If you are a Java developer interested in learning more about .NET, please also visit the following resources:

Enterprise Strategy Series – Overview of the Microsoft Application Development Platform Components
Resources for Java Developers – Inclusive of interoperability technical articles/samples, and migration resources

Research and Benchmarks

	New Detailed IDC Study Shows Microsoft in Strong Position for SOA, Web Services and Mission-Critical Application Platform Software (.pdf) This IDC Research report, sponsored by Microsoft, is based on the results of a usage/adoption study of mission-critical application platform software within large organizations. The study was conducted by IDC according to their strict research standards, and Microsoft had no influence over the selection of survey respondents, who were randomly selected based on IDC’s research methodology.
	.NET StockTrader and IBM WebSphere Trade 6.1 Benchmark and Interoperability Sample The .NET StockTrader application is an in-depth sample and benchmark application for building service-oriented applications using .NET 3.0 and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). The application is functionally equivalent to IBM's primary benchmark and capacity planning application for IBM WebSphere, called Trade 6.1. The .NET StockTrader site contains a 100-page technical benchmark report detailing the performance of WCF vs. IBM WebSphere 6.1 for the Trade workload, including Web services performance. The application also demonstrates bi-directional interoperability between .NET and IBM WebSphere/J2EE.
	IBM WebSphere to .NET 2.0 Migration Guide This guide is designed for technical decision makers, architects and developers evaluating potential migration projects from IBM WebSphere to .NET. The guide is divided into three sections: information on the core benefits of migrating to .NET; technology mappings comparing .NET technologies to their core J2EE counterpart technologies; and a step-by-step tutorial for first-time Visual Studio developers based on creating an equivalent n-tier enterprise Web application to the IBM PlantsByWebSphere sample application.

Microsoft .NET Adoption Among Large Enterprises Now Surpasses J2EE Adoption

	Microsoft .NET adoption is now exceeding J2EE adoption as the preferred development platform for large organizations. While the two technologies will continue to co-exist, in less than three years since its initial release, the .NET Framework has quickly gained critical mass according to several recent analyst reports.
	.NET Adoption Continues to Surge for Mission Critical Applications: The IDC Study (.pdf) Microsoft .NET adoption is now exceeding J2EE adoption as the preferred development platform for large organizations. While the two technologies will continue to co-exist, in less than three years since its initial release, the .NET Framework has quickly gained critical mass according to several recent analyst reports.
	Port80 Software Survey of Fortune 1000 Corporate Web Sites Port80 Software reports that Windows Server/IIS is the leading deployed web application server for the corporate web sites for the Fortune 1000. In this survey, 54% of the Fortune 1000 use IIS, compared with 21% usage of Linux/Apache. In addition, their survey of application server technology used within these sites shows that ASP/ASP.NET represents the leading choice (44%), followed by JSP/Java (12.2%).
	Forrester Report: The State of Technology Adoption (2004) Forrester Research recently surveyed 878 IT decision-makers at North American enterprises. This research determined that Microsoft .NET has the edge when it comes to choosing a development platform. In interviewing these enterprise software decision-makers, Forrester found that 56 percent were using .NET as their development platform.

Code Samples and Other Resources

.NET StockTrader Sample Application

This service-oriented application is an end-to-end sample created using .NET 3.0 Windows Communication Foundation and industry-standard Web services. The application includes an ASP.NET front end, as well as a .NET 3.0 Windows Presentation Foundation smart client. It demonstrates the use of WCF over multiple transport protocols and encoding standards, interoperability with J2EE platforms, and also includes comparative benchmark results.