How hard is it to learn...........................

[Liam]

I see, I genuinely believe although I am not at Uni that I am reasonably clever and can pick up stuff quickly if it gets drilled into me, I have been accepted for an Internship to train on .NET technologies and also have a guaranteed employment offer, the training however scares me a bit but I might just be naturally modest in thinking it is above me.

You will be thinking why am I asking and why doesn't he just get on with it, well I need to pay some £ and if I fcuked it up, it would be a disaster etc etc

I did some HTML about 4 years ago in frontpage, tried to stay away from code view and did it all in page view or whatever you call it.

Liam

 

[Alex]

the basics of sql are the same across the board, however mySQL doesn't yet support all the functionality of SQL Server, so code is not always interchangeable.

Interesting you should say that. Most SQL Servers have the same functions, but they call them different things. Also schemas are configured in a more Oracle like fashion.

Java as a rule I steer clear of, because it claims to be fully cross platform, but that comes with a big disclaimer which goes something along the lines of "so long as you have the same platform as the devloper who wrote the java software". There are many different Java VMs about, SUN and IBM to name but two. I favour C++ as a cross platform language, since its compiled to a specific environment IMO it gives more stable binaries, however the major drawback of compiled languages, is that you need to develop libraries and compile binaries for each environment you intend on releasing to, which brings me on to C# (.NET) (C sharp or C hash as I like to call it) a logical progression on from C++ and a rival to Java (J2EE) since its non-compiled, and aledgedly cross platform. Infact all .NET technologies are supposedly cross platform and stable. Where I say non-compiled, it is only compiled into an intermediate language, the VM does the rest of the work to change it into the native OS language.

If you're thinking you want to become a developer, it seems there is a clear devide, those who microsoft, and those who java/php/mysql. But really once you've learned the basics of one programming language and how to think in terms of code. New languages are relatively easy to pick up. My personal preference for languages is C++ and C#. Internet Scripting languages (I consider to be informal languages) are worth knowing, but you should be able to back it with a formal language IMO. But thats just me... I can write hello world in 8086 machine code

And on a closing note, don't try and learn everything all at once. Concentrate on Java or C++ or something, you can always learn asp or php scripting on a wet sunday afternoon, or even on the job.

And very finally. The new vogue (and its more than just a fashion trend) is XML (ok been around for ages) and XSL and XSLT again not a huge amount of intellect required to learn, but an absolute bonus, when it comes to getting a job in pretty much any dev environment.

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EDIT: is it an aprenta course?

 

[arc]

html doesnt really count.. tbh its that basic, it doesnt really do anything. forget about that, and just start again with what they teach you.

like i said before, i'm moving over toward .net now - but only .net Compact Framework, apps for pdas/smart phones - being taught using vb but can use any language we want, and i'm swaying more toward to the c# now

 

[Alex]

As a quick (I promise) annex to my above post. You could compeletely buck the trend and instead of learning the relational database language, learn something like Postgress (Object Relational DBMS), a rare skill indeed (and frankly not one thats needed much at the moment), but some time in the not too distant future the acronym RDBMS will be as old hat as 16Bit Computers (and even 32 bit computers soon).

EDIT: yep sorry I'm a geek, but I think both java and .NET have Postgress SQL/OQL libraries.

 

[Liam]

EDIT: is it an aprenta course?

Yes, do you ask cos you've heard of it or because it's bad?

I kind of understood wha you said so it maks me feel a bit better.

C# and others are involved, are you familiar with the exams etc?

Liam

 

[Big Black Stilo]

i learnt the basics of .asp , html and sql in 6 months , it should of been a lot sooner but i dicked around

some programs do most of the coding for you, although for some reason i like to hard code by modifying and borrowing bits from the web

there are loads of books and resources available to get you started, but dont get any "....... for dummies" , cause they dont go into much depth

Gaz is right, stay away from the dummies books. I can use Excel inside out (apart from VB coding as I ave forgotten most of it in the 6 years passed since I studied it) and someone at work wanted to learn it, got one of those, took one look at it on my lunch and wished him luck as it didnt cover what he wanted to do.

Used to do HTML at uni, but it isnt my job anymore and I dont really need to use it for owt. Although I can still do things with it!

 

[Alex]

Yes, do you ask cos you've heard of it or because it's bad?

I kind of understood wha you said so it maks me feel a bit better.

C# and others are involved, are you familiar with the exams etc?

Liam

No, just seen the TV add, I've heard nothing good, nor bad about them. I do wonder how recognised the qualification is though. How does it work? Do you get a Microsoft Certification (or Oracle etc...) or do you get an Aprenta certificate? Vendor Certificates are highly regarded. But if they guarentee you a job at the end of it, if all else fails you've got some experiance as well as training. If its as good as they say it is then there is nothing to loose.

As for understanding my other posts, they're more a stream of consiousness rather than advice. If you want any help etc... just PM me I'll be glad to offer any assistance I can, especially if it comes to SQL, VB or ASP. (I can do thers but these are my areas of expertees (sp))

 

[Liam]

I do wonder how recognised the qualification is though. How does it work? Do you get a Microsoft Certification (or Oracle etc...) or do you get an Aprenta certificate? Vendor Certificates are highly regarded. But if they guarentee you a job at the end of it, if all else fails you've got some experiance as well as training. If its as good as they say it is then there is nothing to loose.

Full Microsoft Certification to MCSE and MCSA so that kinda swung it for me, wouldn't have touched a non recognised course well not for the money charged.

As for understanding my other posts, they're more a stream of consiousness rather than advice. If you want any help etc... just PM me I'll be glad to offer any assistance I can, especially if it comes to SQL, VB or ASP. (I can do thers but these are my areas of expertees (sp))

Thats a kind offer and one I may take you upon thanks.

Liam