On Sun, 2006-03-26 at 14:54 -0800, Martin Olsson wrote: > I keep reading that Mono creates binaries that run with no modifications > on any platform. If this is true, why does not MonoDevelop run on Windows?
Let's clarify that then. You *can* create binaries with Mono that run without modifications on any platform. That need not be the case, if you use platform-specific functionality (e.g. DllImports to KERNEL32.dll, or use of Gnome-specific libraries, or...). Similarly, you *can* create Java apps which run w/o modifications (until you start using JNI, or vendor-specific add-ons). You *can* create cross-platform Perl apps, Python apps, and Ruby apps (again, until you use a platform-specific library). It always comes down to dependencies. Many people will want platform-specific functionality, as that frequently allows platform-specific integration (e.g. a Cocoa# GUI will fit in much better on Mac OS X than a Gtk# or System.Windows.Forms GUI, but Cocoa# isn't portable to non-OS X platforms). > so what guarantee do I have that I will not run into similar problems > if I start a serious project using Mono? When Java was first introduced, it was declared as "write once, run anywhere." Microsoft, showing some insight, said that Java was "write once, test/debug everywhere." This was principally because everyone's JVM was different, thus requiring extensive testing to ensure that your "portable" code ran correctly under all supported JVMs. Mono and .NET are no different. If you want to make sure that your code runs under all of your supported platforms, TEST YOUR CODE UNDER ALL SUPPORTED PLATFORMS. The same would be true for Rotor, Portable.NET, and even Microsoft's Compact Framework. Each platform will have different idiosyncrasies -- you'll need to test, in order to find them and work around them. "Write once/run everywhere" is a pipe dream, and likely always will be (because *users* like platform integration, necessitating platform-specific use; if it were up to the programmers, portable libraries would be used everywhere and no platforms would be different, as this is easier to deal with). - Jon _______________________________________________ Mono-list maillist - [email protected] http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/mono-list
