Java vs C#

Last Updated : 17 Mar, 2025

C# is a general-purpose, modern, and object-oriented programming language pronounced as “C sharp”. It was developed by Microsoft led by Anders Hejlsberg and his team. Mr. Hejlsberg is developing J++ which is a Java-like language for Microsoft that later influenced C#.

Java is a general-purpose computer programming language that is concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, etc. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode that can run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture.

Difference Between C# and Java

Below are some major differences between C# and Java: platform-independent APIs

Feature	C#	Java
Operator Overloading	C# supports operator overloading for multiple operators.	Java does not support operator overloading.
Runtime Environment	C# supports CLR(Common Language Runtime).	Java supports JVM(Java Virtual Machine).
API Control	C# APIs are controlled by an open-source community.	Java APIs are also controlled by open community processes support.
Public Classes	In C#, there can be many public classes inside a source code.	In Java there can be only one public class inside a source code otherwise there will be a compilation error.
Checked Exceptions	C# does not support Unix-based checked exceptions. In some cases checked exceptions are very useful for the smooth execution of the program.	Java supports both checked and unchecked exceptions.
Platform Dependency	C# is cross-platform and runs on both Windows & Unix-based systems.	Java is a robust and platform-independent language. The platform independence of Java is through JVM.
Pointers	In C# pointers can be used only in unsafe mode.	Java does not support anyway use of pointers.
Conditional Compilation	C# supports for conditional compilation.	Java does not support conditional compilation.
goto statement	C# supports the goto statement.	Java does not support support for goto statements. The use of the goto statement will cause errors in Java code.
Structure and Union	C# supports structures and unions.	Java doesn’t support structures and unions.
Floating Point	C# does not support the strictfp keyword, which means the result of floating point numbers may not be guaranteed to be the same across all platforms. However, C# has a numeric type called decimal for high-precision calculations.	Java supports strictfp keyword which means its result for floating point numbers will be the same across various platforms.
Language	C# is a part C Family based upon C and C++.	Java is not considered a part of the C family, although it does have some similarities and influences from C and C++.
Routing	For routing configuration, it uses ASP.Net	For routing configuration, it uses akka.routing
Dependency Injection	It uses dependency injection.	It not only uses dependency injection but also allows modification.
Speed	Speed is slower than JAVA. But with the latest versions of .NET we can say it is now compatible with Java.	Speed is faster than the speed of C#.
Polymorphism	It supports polymorphism by default.	It supports polymorphism by default.
Delegates	It contains delegates.	It does not contain delegates.