Gartner based its migration cost estimates on Visual Basic.Net and not on its cutting-edge, Java-like Visual C# programming language. One reason: cost. A forthcoming study will say the migration cost associated with C# would be even higher than the standard Visual Studio .Net tools, Driver said. "Some clients have asked about going directly to C#," Driver said. "For the vast majority, going from Visual Basic to Visual Basic.Net may be painful, but it's going to be the least painful of the strategies." C# is seen as a crucial programming language for advancing .Net. Use of the language doubled in six months, according to a March study by Evans Data. Without a doubt, companies switching to the new tools and migrating software applications over the long haul will find the switch over the easiest, but even they face difficulties in planning. Driver used the example of a developer running the older version of Visual Studio and Visual Studio .Net over a protracted period. "That becomes untenable at some point," he said. "You've got to make the switch. So even if you go with a hybrid model, you've got to remember that you're spreading your resources thin over two different platforms." There are other concerns about making the switch to .Net. At the top of the list is security, Driver said. Following a January memo from chairman Bill Gates, Microsoft cranked up emphasis on security. But problems have still surfaced in recent months. "Some people are hesitant to put Internet Information Server (behind a public Web site) because of security issues. Well, .Net doesn't really address those problems," Driver said. "IIS is still just as vulnerable with .Net running behind it as the older ASP (Active Server Pages) code running behind it." IBM and Sun also are pushing hard into Web services, advancing their own technology strategies and tools. Security will be an important part of that emerging market. Market researcher ZapLink said on Thursday that the Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Web Services security market would top $4.4bn in 2006.
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