Blog
XAML vs. HTML ain't like VB vs. C#
By Ken Getz | September 14, 2012
Before Windows 8 apps came along, I spent a lot of time writing courseware for both VB and C#, and converting between the two was relatively easy--I got it down to a science. At worst, it involved some minor changes, once you got past the language differences. And those minor changes got smaller and smaller with each version of the languages. So, wow, was I surprised to find that it's nothing like that when comparing C# and JavaScript apps for Windows 8.
Basically, they have little, if anything, in common. Because C# (and VB) use the .NET Framework, more or less, and JavaScript apps use WinJS, the tools, classes, and even concepts are different. I was totally surprised how different the environments are, down to big differences in the available controls--things you find in JavaScript simply aren't available to C#/VB developers. Want a date picker control? Better look outside Visual Studio to find that control (and several others that JavaScript supplies but C#/VB do not).
Anyway, my point is that if you're a writer (or a developer) thinking that you can create apps in C# and then later convert them to JavaScript (or vice versa) think again. That ain't happening.
