learning .NET
- Started
- Last post
- 14 Responses
- jackfoley
The small design company I work for was bought out a few months back, by a large microsoft certified technology firm. They want me to learn .NET. I'm a designer who isn't much of a programmer. I know a little about actionscripting and css. Would .NET be difficult for someone like me to learn? And would it even be a worthwhile skill to know in the long run? Any other opinions? Thanks!
- jgjh1510
C# looks like actionscript 1.0 kinda. ASP.NET 20.0 is pretty nice. If you've never done programming it may take a while to get used to.
Just go to www.asp.net and go through to of the walkthroughs to get a feel.
- motokiss0
dude learn learn learn. Learn as much as you can espically well you are getting paid for it. if you dont like your new positition then atleast you leave with more experience with other stuff besides being a designer. good luck you will be fine.
- bcoden0
.Net i svery difficult to learn especially if you have not really done any hard core programming before. But you have an advanatge as you do not haev any preconfigured coding standards and this will help as .Net is unlike any other coding language out there. If you have the drive to laern for sure go for it as it will take allot of patience.
- toastie0
quit your job and stay away from Microsoft :P
- dr_Shim0
Do Visual Basic .NET, but if you want ActionScript 2.0-style sytnax, C# is a better bet.
And please remember this: C# and Visual Basic .NET are the same thing.
Yes, that's right. .NET is a platform, what language you use is irrelevant. Hell, you could do Delphi 2005, and it would all be the same in the end. (Delphi 2005 is a .NET language.)
As for ASP .NET 20.0, that doesnt exist, and I'm sure it would look nothing like ActionScript 1.0. :)
- dr_Shim0
Just to elaborate a bit, there are a few languages which use the .NET platform. The language in question has to abide by certain standards to be a ".NET-language."
Oh, and .NET isn't hard to learn. There's tones of docs on it! You're lucky to be a MS partner now, since you'll get lots of expensive software at a much, much cheaper cost.
And it is something worth learning. :)
- jackfoley0
Any online resources or books you recommend for an absolute beginner who is a non-programmer?
- r_gaberz0
i never quite understood what .NET really is.
if anyone is in the mood... please explain
- cosmo0
i don't really like .NET at all, its for ppl who really can't write code.
.NET apparently has "more" features.
- sparker0
.net is an ideal. you could call it a platform. what it is, is a collection of different languages tied together by commonality and interaction.
xml, asp, c#, vb, ado, etc. the platform allows you to write applications and web services which integrate more smoothly with eachother.
there is also mono, the linux variant.
learning it is fine. it's good to pick up new skills. but, learning .net specifically puts you into a vendor lock-in of sorts. .net pretty much relies on microsoft technology. mono tries to bridge the gap, but we all know how well linux and microsoft mesh. oil and water.
also, i have to say, without any prior knowledge in programming, you're sort of jumping into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim. it's not impossible to do, but it won't be easy.
my suggestion to my interns or part-time employees has always been, learn perl, php and something like ecma/javascript or ruby first. ruby is pretty easy to learn...and i haven't ever met a programmer that went to school for perl. perl is inherent in all of us. i think perl is part of our dna.
:)
- dprskier0
THe college of business I attend is infatuated with ms thus I currently use ASP.NET 2.0 which is the new BETA version of .Net. All I can say, is for alot of tasks, it makes it very simple. Its a pretty visual interface with alot of drag and drop stuff and once you have dropped you just edit the query and kabang.
If you can get ur hands on the .NET beta you shuold have no trouble learning it. I am pretty sure this profs say this new one is significantly more simple than any previous version.
ALthough the beta is a beta and produces ASP which will not run on most servers as of now. But I think this summer it will be officially released and you will be good to go!
- dr_Shim0
Sparker, .NET _is_ a platform, not a tie-together of languages. It has a specification, a run-time, etc.
Learning the various features of the platform isn't hard, either, just a lot to know. However, deciding on which CLS*-compliant language you want to learn is what will determine how hard it will be for you.
Visual Basic is easier than C#, since it nicer to look at. That's about all the difference. With .NET 2.0 comming soon, the differences will be even smaller.
r_gabez, I hope that answers your question as well!
Now, about books. Well, I wouldn't recommend Microsoft's books. Strange huh? Well, there's a noteable abount of mistakes in the code, which I find odd.
It depends on what you want to learn. ASP .NET? Or the whole .NET framework? "Introduction to C# Using .NET" looks like a good book, although I haven't read it.
* CLS stands for Common Language Specification. It's the standard languages have to follow to use the .NET framework.
- dr_Shim0
To get started, all you need is notepad, and the SDK...
- spiralstarez0
I've just started learning ASP.NET myself... Basically ASP.NET is a framework - as has been said - that allows you to write in different languages to achieve the same result. It's about how the code is compiled.
This is a huge advantage for large scale project seeing that different people can write in different languages on the same project to achieve a common goal or develop an app together.
Also, if I understand correctly (still learning) ASP.NET allows you to keep your code more seperated from you're pages, and makes it easy to re-use on later projects.
I have Teach Yourself ASP.NET in 21 Days and it's an alright book so far, though I'm not stupid enough to think I'll be great at ASP in 21 days. Good start though.