Mainsoft Grasshopper 2.5 is a Visual Studio 2008 plug-in that dynamically translates .NET code into Java. This version provides full support for ASP.NET AJAX including ASP.NET 2.0, the AJAX Extensions, and the AJAX Control Toolkit. In addition, 2.5 supports new language features for C# 3.0 and Visual Basic 9, such as Local Type Inference, Object and Collection Initializers, Anonymous Types, and Auto-Implemented Properties. Grasshopper can be freely downloaded from dev.mainsoft.com. Mainsoft sells commercial versions of its Visual Studio plug-in; however, the primary difference between Grasshopper and those commercial versions is that Grasshopper works only with Tomcat. Otherwise, it appears full-featured. I've used it before, and I'm pretty impressed. http://dev.mainsoft.com

And how do you debug this thing if something goes wrong? Not much luck, I guess.

It's .NET... what could possibly go wrong? =)

Interestingly, the Java bytecode generation goes into reverse, converting back to .NET IL and enabling use of the Visual Studio debugger. I know it sounds odd, but it seems to work just fine.

[...]the primary difference between Grasshopper and those commercial versions is that Grasshopper works only with Tomcat. Otherwise, it appears full-featured

I have to correct you: only with tomcat and only on a single cpu! And pricing for enterprise edition seems to start from $5000/cpu (+$6000/developer). I'm impressed with the product, which I evaluated in the past (it seems it can run DotNetNuke on linux) but cost is even more impressive... no wonder it is not widely used. Regards, Raffaele

Why use Grasshopper instead focusing in Mono to run .NET applications in Linux?

Why use Grasshopper instead focusing in Mono to run .NET applications in Linux?

One reason is with Grasshopper, you're not limited to platforms that Mono runs on. An enterprise could also choose to run their .Net stuff on big iron (IBM i, z/OS, etc). Another reason is to get those .Net applications to run in a portal, where most are Java-based.

An enterprise could also choose to run their .Net stuff on big iron (IBM i, z/OS, etc).

lol. Ok, if big iron is the answer, someone asked the wrong question. You ain't get'in the mainframers to give up CICS apps for .NET/java. Just my opinion, but there are more reliable and more cost effective options which scale better... outside of number crunching and getting your web site to be a chess master that is. :) Again I'll ding on TSS about this one. Come on guys... there's TheServerSide.Net for rhetoric like this. What does this have to do with java?

An enterprise could also choose to run their .Net stuff on big iron (IBM i, z/OS, etc).

lol. Ok, if big iron is the answer, someone asked the wrong question. You ain't get'in the mainframers to give up CICS apps for .NET/java.

Just my opinion, but there are more reliable and more cost effective options which scale better... outside of number crunching and getting your web site to be a chess master that is. :)

I'd beg to differ. Java plays quite well on IBM's z and i platforms (more the former than the latter). It has good performance, and it integrates really, really well with existing workloads. WebSphere on z has quite a big following for these reasons.

An enterprise could also choose to run their .Net stuff on big iron (IBM i, z/OS, etc).

lol. Ok, if big iron is the answer, someone asked the wrong question. You ain't get'in the mainframers to give up CICS apps for .NET/java.

Just my opinion, but there are more reliable and more cost effective options which scale better... outside of number crunching and getting your web site to be a chess master that is. :)

I'd beg to differ. Java plays quite well on IBM's z and i platforms (more the former than the latter). It has good performance, and it integrates really, really well with existing workloads. WebSphere on z has quite a big following for these reasons.

Plus Linux/Unix on Z and then Java on those.

The Java on i5 is quite good now that the JVM is Hursley based :) And the Hursley based JVM for i5, are available on both 32 and 64 bits editions (V6R1 for 64 bits edition).

What's the rationale behind this product? If I need to do that, why not coding in Java? Existing .NET code may have serious compatibility problems when building in Java, anyone?

Thanks, but no thanks. Every time I deal with integrating with .Net it reminds me why I decided to switch to Java (after 5 years as a senior C# developer). Wasting 3 weeks recently when integrating with a .Net component just on GAC issues.

If you want to convert your .net code to java instatntly and accurately then i would receommend you to use Codeporting's .Net to Java converter online. It converts your .net code to java in cloud which means you don't have to download it just upload your code and it will converted to java instantly.