C# Vs Java Which step should I take?

So I've decided to extend my coding knowledge further and am wondering which direction I should take, the Microsoft .NET route with C# or the JAVA route.From what I've been able to ascertain, C# offers greater efficiency when it comes to computer resources, however Java actually uses a lot more resources for its graphical interface side.It's not so much web content I'm after, if it was then Java would be the obvious choice, but if I learned C# then I would be able to create a more advanced gaming engine software, or at least a construction wizard for completely designing my php game engine before constructing.Well anyway, what are your opinions on the subject? C# vs Java...

When it comes to gaming it's hard choice between two. Some of the good indie games are now written in java despite it's leaking issues and few other packaging issues. C# is dominant over Xbox and some other gaming boxes. I have no idea if any MMORPG is written in either java or C#/ASP, so i can't say for sure on which is the best on that part. But in case of mmorpg stuff php still dominates and should be used, just my opinion. C# - is perfect for XNA and window based development. i don't mean that it is only usable in windows but it can be run over linux and mac but the gaming development part with c# on non window based platform is very limited. So you're restricted with the development for general audience or the box audience with XNA. There are tons of frameworks and support tutorials for C# in case of game development. Memory wise it is good as well and not much of drawback other than limitation of compiling over multiple platform for same game. You can check garage games for the XNA engine and the other C# based game development scripts and softwares. There are some free editors and scripts on that site. Java - is good for mobile and desktop gaming. Plenty of packages for game development, frameworks are also available. Disadvantages- memory leaks, low performance on old hardware in case of desktop games. Not sure how many mmorpg use java for the game development so not sure about web games. JavaFX is good but not as promising like HTML5 and silverlight or flash. In case of web games, flash is much better than java in my opinion. Again not sure if you're after web based games like miniclip or MMORPG, so depending on that things will change for sure. There are some other things that goes in case of java and C#. For example, if you want online hosting then you have to ask for additional package from Xisto for java and ,net hosting. C# based project have to be moved to .net server of Xisto and java requires approval from xistohost before you deploy here. So many variables are going on with C# and Java here.

Well the software I was planning on designing was actually a wizard style layout for designing a game using PGE, a lot of people find it easier to use desktop software more than web interfaces, then once you had finished designing your game in the wizard it would compile the php code then upload the files via ftp to the users web host. From the sounds of it C# is probably the better option for this. The only functions I would really need to build in to the wizard would be forms and such (for designing the game), file writing (for compiling the php source code) and ftp connectivity to upload the files and execute database commands (although that would probably need to be done through php execution).

I'm just not all that happy with the current web interface for PGE at the moment, it's fine for advanced users but the whole point of PGE is to offer the ability to build php mmorpg games with little to no advanced skills with web design. Through ftp I would be able to get the software to configure the file structures properly and also to make updating the engine with patches, newer versions and module installations so much easier.

With Java as well I also have to consider the JVM requires more resources than a compiled C# program and some of my users may not have very fast computers. Think I'll go with C# for the wizard, seems much easier.

There's always My Personal Programmer, I've still got an old copy of that lying round somewhere with a license key. If it does still work on later machines then it might be easier than learning C# (for now anyway), would give me more time to work on the game engine. It's probably really out-dated now, I don't think the company that made it still exists.I was looking for it again a couple of years back and the website had completely vanished from the web, and the only downloads for it were all download sites that connected to the homepage for the software to download it, so it literally vanished from the web.

A new site is under construction now with the old address, http://www.mypersonalprogrammer.com/ but if it's a new version of the old software being designed or something similar then it would be interesting to see what they come up with.

Just a quick update regarding my personal programmer, I tried visiting the old website for the company that designed the software as well http://www.mpacttech.com/ and it's displaying the exact same under construction page so it looks like mpact technologies are making a comeback with a new version of MPP.

If you lean Scala it will run on both java and dot net. I presume it interops well with both systems. Less of course is written in this language since it is newer and it may take more effort to learn.

As far as I know, Java is not good at gaming area in desktop. As you only provided two choices, I suggest you to take a look at XNA and WPF. XNA has a very easy to use framework to build DirectX based game while WPF provided a easy way to create fancy 2D UI, though WPF support 3D, but the performance and experience is good enough.I am not saying Java is not good as .NET, personally, I also spend time on creating android applications.Hope this can help you.