A Shameless beginner wanting to learn all that I can

Xavier Toussaint

Salutations, Much ado, and Hello,

My name is Xavier, and despite my flamboyant header, I have many questions on how to begin a career in programming, design, and/or development.

A little Background, I am a current Chemical Engineering student, age 21, and I have stumbled upon the world of IT/software. I well say that I was one of those hot shot high school students who thought the world was his by getting into a good school. Needless to say, partying and not going to class is not a good mix. I am learning from my failures and am repairing my gpa at a local Community College. I recently discovered my interest in not only coding, but also DevOps, IT, and all around "computers". I have done Code Academy lessons for many languages such as: HTML, Python(favorite), Java, Ruby, and SQL. This has lead me to many forums about Computer Science and the importance of an objective-C language, which leads me here.

I have been using online manuals to learn the basics of C#. I have written a couple of question and answer programs, downloaded Github, learn the fun that is algorithms, and am still am not deterred(promise I'm off the crazy pills).

My questions are:

1. How did you learn C#, and get into the field?

2. What are the main focuses/uses of C#, and which ones should I focus in on?

3. How do I market myself to one day get a job as a developer?

4. Can you explain the .Net Framework, and how to get acclimated to Windows Servers, SQL Servers, Windows clients, Active Directory, and so on?

5. Also how do I access/learn C# stacks, libraries/algorithms?

6. Any General Advice for a baby faced newbie?

7. I am currently using Visual Studio to run programs, is that a good IDE?

Sorry for the long letter, but I wanted to effectively communicate everything so you all can understand my situation!

Thanks in Advance,

Xavier T.

3 Replies

Know the answer? Post it — somebody with the same question will find it here.

Francis Susaimichael9y ago
Accepted answer
1. How did you learn C#, and get into the field?

Your question itself contain answer. Just begin "Learn". I would suggest the book "C#: The Complete Reference" by Herbert schildt, is the best book for beginners. Just google, you can find tons of C# online materials.

2. What are the main focuses/uses of C#, and which ones should I focus in on?

It depends. I'm from web background, so i would say focus on web.;) With C#, you can built s/w from desktop console application to smart phone apps. Focus on base on your interest.

3. How do I market myself to one day get a job as a developer?

Learn a lot and Equip yourself. Try with online courses and projects. That will give good confidence.

4. Can you explain the .Net Framework, and how to get acclimated to Windows Servers, SQL Servers, Windows clients, Active Directory, and so on?

This question doesn't contain a simple one line answer. So I will say, just google about .Net Framework and know more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework

5. Also how do I access/learn C# stacks, libraries/algorithms?

Again you need to google about "Base Class Libraries", which is a main component of .Net framework, provides the necessary libraries.

6. Any General Advice for a baby faced newbie?

A lot. Learn as much you can. If you want to learn C#, MSDN urls will be the good start. Try with opensource projects. If you need anything more post it here :)

7. I am currently using Visual Studio to run programs, is that a good IDE?

No doubt. Since MS is the creators of .Net Framework, VS also designed by them. They know the in and out of .Net. So VS performs a lot better then other IDE. Since my beginning, i used VS alone (last 10 years). However, there are still other IDEs are available in market like dreamweaver etc. But personally, i don't have any experience with it. So I can't suggest you on that. :)

Hope i answered all of your question. Let me know if you need anything more :)

PS.: You compiled a lot of questions in a single post. try to split it up and post it separately. :)
Francis Susaimichael9y ago
You are welcome Xavier! We are here to help others as much as we can! :)
Xavier Toussaint9y ago
@Francis Thank you so much for the feedback I will definitly follow through with many of your suggestions. It seems this is the perfect place to find a community of developers!