Implementing C# for the JVM

Is anyone attempting to implement C# for the JVM? As a Java developer, I've been eyeing C# with envy, but am unwilling to give up the portability and maturity of the JVM, not to mention the diverse range of tools for it.

I know there are some important differences between the JVM and CLR but is there anything that is a showstopper?

There are very significant differences between the CLR and the JVM.

A few examples:

• Java doesn't have user-defined value types
• Java generics is completely different to .NET generics
• Many aspects of C# depend on elements of the framework - delegates etc. You'd need to port the library as well, even for language aspects.
• Java doesn't support things like properties and events at a JVM level. You could fake some of this, but it wouldn't be the same.
• I don't believe Java has any equivalent to pass-by-reference parameters, even at the JVM level
• Subtleties to do with the different memory models would quite possibly bite, although I'm not sure how much is in the C# spec.
• Unsafe code in general probably isn't possible in Java
• Interoperability with native code is very different between JNI and P/Invoke. This probably isn't much of a problem for you.
• You'd have to fake operator overloading and user-defined conversions

You could probably port a lot of C# - but you'd be left with a pretty unsatisfactory experience, IMO.

Going the other way, are you aware of IKVM? It allows you to run Java code in .NET.

Visit http://code.google.com/p/stab-language

The code below if a Stab language code for JVM

using java.lang;
using stab.query;
public class Test {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
   // Sorts the arguments starting with "-" by length and then using the default   
        // string comparison
        var query = from s in Query.asIterable(args)
                    where s.startsWith("-")
                    orderby s.length(), s
                    select s;
        foreach (var s in query) {
            System.out.println(s);
        }
    }
}