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Differences Between the CLR and JVM

This is a quick reference to differences between the CLR and JVM. It also bleeds into differences between C# and Java whose features often include compiler-level-only features that the underlying VirtualMachine is not cognizant of.

CLR has…

  • CLR has unsigned types
  • CLR has namespaces
  • CLR has explicit interface implementations
  • CLR allows non-overridding methods when the same signature (called 'new')
  • CLR has value types
  • CLR has non-virtual methods (I don't think JVM does)
  • CLR has events
  • CLR has out and ref parameters
  • C# has partial classes
  • C# has closures
  • C# has yield
  • C# can have multiple classes in a single file

JVM has …

  • JVM has no generic types. This is purely at the compiler level. I've read that you cannot overload a method by a generic type such as List<of int> vs. List<of String>.
  • Java has exception specification on the method level.
  • Java has non-static inner classes

Other Differences

  • assemblies vs. jars

References