My Experience Learning A New Programming Language

Since I left university several year ago, I have been programming heavily in Java and Python. In fact, my main language right now is Python. I have talked really well about it in this blog; and how I got into it in the first place.

If you came through any sort of university route, you will have been taught Java as well during your time there. But as you get into the industry proper, it soon becomes clear that you need more than Java to compete. You need more than just one programming language under your belt to get you anywhere as a software professional. What you learnt as part of your course is nothing compare to what you will be faced with in your day job. So, that's why it is important to have a good idea of what it takes to succeed as a software professional.

One of the best qualities of a professional software developers is the ability to adapt, learn and use the right tool or language for the task in hand.

We recently started working on a Windows-based project and we were all give a copy of Beginning C# Object-Oriented Programming to get us up to speed with C#. Although I have been programming for as long as I care to remember, I had never do any Microsoft Windows based development at all. Most of my work have been on Linux or Mac-OSX which will make this project a nice opportunity to explore Windows proper.

I spend the weekend on this Beginning C# Object-Oriented Programming and was surprised to see how easy it is to work with the .NET framework. If you already know Java and other Object Oriented programming, you can easily skip some of the chapters in this book. The first few chapters cover the logic and intro into .NET programming while the rest move deeper into designs along with more than 30 fully hands-on activities, you'll discover how to transform a simple model of an application into a fully-functional C# project, including designing the user interface, implementing the business logic, and integrating with a relational database for data storage. Along the way, you will explore the .NET Framework, the creation of a Windows-based user interface, a web-based user interface, and service-oriented programming, all using Microsoft's industry-leading Visual Studio 2010, C#, Silverlight, the Entity Framework, and more.

I totally recommend this book if you are getting into Object oriented development for C# and .NET. I didn't think I would like it, but was blown away at the pace, content and style of the writing. You won't be surprised to learn that the author, Daniel Clark, is a trainer.