ASP.NET Continuing Learning

Question

I have been working in ASP.NET for several years (starting from 1.0 days!), But I have never been officially instructed. I am fully capable of doing everything I want and have created several sites at the production level based on data, including one that produces more than a million sales a year (according to the owner). But I'm starting to feel that the holes in my knowledge are pulling my productivity down. I read a lot and try to study wherever I can, so as to try not to sleep with all the new technologies, but sometimes I just don’t understand this, and I think this is due to my lack of formal training.

Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to fill these gaps without having to rephrase the basics?

thanks

Answer 1

1) Read the code of popular open source projects. Some of them have some really good practices.

I recommend checking out BlogEngine.NET . Also, if you are more ambitious, I would suggest looking at the ASP.NET MVC 1.0 code.

2) Sometimes you need to "get back to basics" when you work with a certain infrastructure from a much earlier version. In this case, it can be very useful to choose a book that covers some of the new features.

Here is a good book that shows some of the new features in C # 3.0:

C # 3.0 Design Patterns

3) This may seem strange, but reading in other languages ​​/ platforms (for example, Ruby on Rails) will help you in how you develop your classes and code, taking advice on the good and bad different platforms and combining them.

4) Read some books on common best practices and development methodologies.

Some of these books I recommend:

Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

Agile Developer Practices: Working in the Real World

Code Complete: A Practical Guide to Software Development

Answer 2

I am in the same boat; has been a .NET developer for 6 years. Although I have a CS degree, I have no formal training at ASP.Net; I study it at work as projects become available.

I have found the best way to find out what to learn by following .Net developer blogs. Some of them follow:

David Hayden http://www.davidhayden.com/blog.aspx CodingHorror.com (you may be familiar with him ;-) Scott Hanselman http://www.hanselman.com/blog/

Usually, from reading my blogs, I pick out what recent .Net solutions that are there, and point me towards new technologies, I should study further.

In general, I can give you advice that I give to junior developers in my company; that you cannot expect everyone to know, but always want to learn. Good luck

Answer 3

I can fully identify. I have been programming since 1997 and really have no formal training to speak. As for ASP.NET, all that I learned was through open source code (Community Server, BlogEngine.NET, other ASP.NET starter kits), books, LearnVisualStudio.net and is constantly thrown into the fire.

I have a MASSIVE inferiority complex, because I’m always curious: "I did it in a smart way or in an inexperienced way." All I know is that my clients are happy, there are few errors that occur and they are fixed quickly, and I continue to get the job.

Fortunately, I have a passion for my work and something that makes me keep improving (although this can be slow).

If you are a “human person,” then I think user group meetings are a great resource. I am a little introvert, and if someone who dies does not reach out and shake my hand, I rely heavily on the speaker’s presentation to teach me something new. This is probably not the best way to go, and probably why I don't go that way.

But again, I would like to highlight open source projects, especially Community Server.

Answer 4

Look for people better than you and learn from them.

Take a few classes or join a user group.

Answer 5

If you are looking at conferences, consider looking for a local Code Camp . These conferences are often very low, but have excellent information content. They include local speakers and participants so you can create your contacts and a lot of people that you can handle when you need help. In addition, you may need to find (or run) a local .NET group where you can study together. It can be hard to get from the earth, but when all goes well, it can be a great source for exploring the community.

Answer 6

Look at interesting ways to break your installed patters - even with a loss of performance.

Otherwise, it sounds like you are already in a good place. You can deliver current demands and sound like you can get new tricks if necessary.

Indeed, the best way to learn new methods is to work on another project, even if it means changing jobs. If you have relevant and ongoing experience since 2001, you should be able to choose your projects.

I encoded PHP in the current project, and it was an interesting break in web forms. Anyway, I get a good perspective on both models and really look forward to some work in MVC.

Answer 7

I will probably get -1 for this, but as an ASP.NET developer, I don't think you really need to find out ALL that the infrastructure has to offer. The reason I'm talking is that over the years, my refusal to know all the nice ASP.NET features has made me write more efficient and more reliable web applications for Windows. Balanced design patterns (separation of problems) WITHOUT TRANSFER This will make the ASP.NET web application more "better" than using all the controls and tools that come with the framework.

The fact is that you work with ASP.NET, as well as data binding. Since ASP.NET was late in the game with Ajax, I started with my own ajax shell (based on an early ajax book) and then switched to jQuery. My employees all swear by UpdatePanels and third-party controls, and quite often the user interface ends up worse and more confusing than regular post back (and then we have to inject javascript to make it more efficient and more harmless). Regarding data binding, I have not yet found a canned control (from Microsoft or any third party) that handles two-way binding better than the Rick Strahl framework returned in 1.1 days. We built a framework on paper and some of the base classes that it released, and I have yet to see something that, in my opinion, handles data binding in ASP.NET better (well ... besides WPF / Silverlight ... these framework really nailed it imo).

So, for me, the way to upgrade your ASP.NET skills is to come up with several ways to distinguish your business logic from logical components in the cleanest way, and also learn the features of C # and JavaScript (and / or the JS wrapper library like this Like jQuery). For me, starting with the LAMP background before learning ASP.NET, I absolutely love C # and Visual Studio, but I'm not so much a fan of high-level ASP.NET controls.

Answer 8

This is a fairly broad question, and it is difficult to solve. I perceive myself in a similar space for you, so I think I can dwell on the fact that I focused on improving as a developer who could help.

I mainly write business and business related web applications, and I focus on developing a clear understanding of the separation of issues, domain-driven design, and corporate design templates.

Some books on general software design that I found revelation were Code Complete by Steve McConnell and Head First Design Patterns by Freeman and Freeman.

I read SO, Better Code , DDD Step by Step and a number of other blogs.

Unzip well-written code from others and learn from them. Learn from your peers. If you are in a suffocating work environment that does not allow you to grow as a developer, consider looking for a new job.

Learn a new language in completely different contexts - I taught Ruby on Rails at home, and it gave me an interesting perspective on the ASP.NET work that I do on a commercial basis.

Given that you are an ASP.NET web developer, exploring MVC.NET will certainly help you think about developing the interface in a new, refreshing way.

Answer 9

If you can afford the money and time (or you can make your company pay for it), take the DevelopMentor course. They have courses nationwide and year-round. They are usually for a week and are in depth.