I want it all.

[ctsmith84]

This is my first night, and first post here. First off, let me just say I'm glad I found this site. Since I started looking I've found one-too-many boards where all the users there do is complain about there being no jobs in IT.

Anyway, I'm a business BA that has decided to get into a software dev. program at the local tech school. At the end of the day, I'd love to be able to get into the application development field. But for the time being, I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the core languages that I will be learning over the next 10-12 months, or so.

I'm scheduled to have a couple quarters of each C#, C++, Java, and ASP.NET. Right now I'm in the middle of my first quarter of C#. I'm very much interested in supplementing my course's textbook with additional readings/tutorials/etc on C#, so that I can put that down as an honest 'skill' on my resume.

What I'd like some help with would be suggestions on which books/sites/tutorials/etc. are worth checking out?

Any help would be appreciated!

[Ketsuekiame]

Well...
Unfortunately I can't recommend any books on .net at all. I learnt through doing.

I decided on a project, then tried to make it. I encounter all sorts of problems on the way and not knowing how to do anything, but with the help of logic and the internet, learning the language was actually quite easy.

No doubt there are some people here who would have a book to recommend. But I learned the basics of C# in a month and the advanced parts of the language thereafter (although I do come from a C/C++ background so it may have helped)

My advice to you is to learn by doing. Think of something simple but beyond your current level and do it. Learn how to overcome your problem by googling, asking for help and the MSDN. There is nothing better than practical experience.

[ddanbe]

@Ketsuekiame: could not have said it better!
Bu a good book can do no harm. I have an older version of this one. It does not bore you with pages and pages on how to do a for loop.

[ctsmith84]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Good advice. I am definitely a person that learns best by doing.

I found myself a little overwhelmed when I first started my courses in CS, just with all of the different stuff there is to learn. But I'm committed and excited to learn as much as I can. I know that the tech school I am attending will only teach me soo much, so that is why I'm looking to supplement it with other stuff.

I didn't really know where to start, but since my main courses in school right now are C# and SQL, I figured I'd start there.

Thanks again for the responses.

[james6754]

I have been programming with C# now for around 3 and a half months now and I think I have come on no end (although I probably have not).

The guys here have been a MASSIVE help and I love nothing more than reading through all the posts on DaniWeb. You should keep checking this site and it really helps to give you a great understanding of different things, even from reading something you don't understand!

I have bought Murach's 2010, this is a good beginning/intermediate book, and it was recommended to me by someone on here.

I have also purchased C# in a nutshell, although this is for the more advancer programmer, it is very helpful.

There are also some great tutorials that I have found to be a great help online!

Happy Programming!!

[james6754]

And yes...as Ketsuekiame said....there is no better way to learn than by doing

[ctsmith84]

I have bought Murach's 2010, this is a good beginning/intermediate book, and it was recommended to me by someone on here.

That looks like a great book to go grab. Thanks!

[pilipino93]

What's up with this chinese guy lmao. And dude, you are lucky. I wan't to do the same when I go to college next year. I'm going to major in Programming Languages. I only know some intermediate C# levels. I really want to learn SQL, php, html, and C++ of course.

I don't know how much knowledge of C# you have, but what I'm doing mostly are WFA's wich C#. I guess some basics to get yourself familiar with are the syntaxes, strings, loop statements, and just familiarizing yourself with C# yourself. I'm still new so I probably dont' know what I'm talking about.

I learn best by observing examples and implementing them into my own projects. All these readings and articles on learning C# do me no good. I find them useless half the time..

[ctsmith84]

Thanks to the internet, I figured out that he posted that the Wrox Red Book is what he suggested for a C# book.

And what are WFA's?

[james6754]

WFA - Windows Forms Applications...

Just like what you see when you use a program such as winzip...something like that

[ctsmith84]

That's what I was thinking after I posted.

Ok, cool. We did a little of that on the first week or so. Haven't gotten back to it yet. We're doing mostly console apps.