Visual Studio Vs. Eclipse.
Here is how this starts, two strong coffee’s and two nerds/geeks that have opposing technology backgrounds: .Net and Java.
.Net Guy: I programmed Java a while ago, but Eclipse (shakes head while talking to Java Guy).
Java Guy: What about Eclipse, it’s had refactoring practically from day 1. How long did it take Visual Studio? [This is a loaded/poking question because it took a hot minute for Visual Studio to get refactoring]
.Net Guy: Refactoring, heh and do you need to use that quite a bit? [Ohhh burn is what the .Net guy is thinking in his head, the rest of the world however is thinking: dear god, really, am I listening to this?]. I’m going to say one word “intellisence.” Let that sink in for a bit.
Java Guy: How much was Visual Studio Professional again [dramatic pause]? Eclipse “Professional” is free. Oh did I mention Eclipse “Premium Edition” is faaa-reeeee. One more thing Eclipse “Ultimate” is…. [Java guy makes a circle with his index finger and thumb and says wazang as he raises his hand] free as in if yo’ Daddy was Visual Studio yo’ Mama could download Eclipse and have an affair for free.
.Net Guy: [Laughs] WTF are you talking about? [Laughs some more] This is why we get along so much, because we can joke about this with each other. We probably should get back.
On the way back to the desk:
.Net Guy: Eclipse really is pretty darn nice these days, and I can’t believe that it’s free.
Java Guy: I would like to have an affair with LINQ.
[Both Laugh]
Here is what I came up with world. This is an astronomically dumb conversation because there really is no winner. It’s an apples to oranges kind of conversation. Further, if you think about it on any level, nobody is ever going to do Java programming in Visual Studio and on the other side nobody is ever going to do .Net programming in Eclipse, therefore it’s a trivial argument, but with the right buddies it sure can be a funny one.