Java/.NET Integration: The architecture of .NET ® Java platforms use different executable formatted Common Runtime Language syntax, which makes it challenging to build applications that need to integrate existing compiled Java class files into a .NET solution. Learn about Java/.NET integration, converting Java to VB .NET code, and more.

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by Jon Jagger, Content Master Ltd. Intel Corp.

The right techniques and practices are key to interoperability of components written in different languages.

When building an application, it is increasingly likely that you and your team will have to combine components and/or source code written in different programming languages. It is not uncommon for programmers to spend significant periods of time getting modules written in different languages to interoperate properly. This is one of the key challenges addressed by Microsoft .NET.

It is rarely cost-effective or feasible to manually port or rewrite code from one language into another. Java is a popular language for building applications for Unix, while Microsoft has developed .NET and the Common Language Runtime (CLR) for building cross-language applications under Windows. Java and the CLR use different executable formats, which makes it challenging to build applications that need to integrate existing compiled Java class files into a .NET solution.

Java class files can be integrated into the .NET CLR using the JbImp.exe utility (a command-line tool included in Microsoft Visual J#). This paper shows how to use JbImp.exe to convert working sets of Java .class files into .NET executables and .NET assemblies. Readers should note that an alternative way to integrate Java code into .NET is with a Java compiler that outputs .NET Common Intermediate Language (CIL) code rather than Java byte code (such as the command line compiler vjc.exe, which is also included in Microsoft's J# tool). This technique is covered in a separate white paper titled "Portable GUIs improve application flexibility."