Beginner feeling overwhelmed with the whole of Programming [closed] - c#

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As the title suggests, I'm feeling overwhelmed with the whole scope of Programming as I have no clue where it will lead and just what I'll be able to accomplish
For the last weeks or so I've been tackling on programming with books and tutorials, I've gone as far as learning conditionals and so forth on C#, even though I could not get myself to focus on it as much as I wanted to as a question in the back of my mind always remained, and that is;
Where am I going?
Where exactly am I going with all of this?
There is just so much in programming yet I know so little.
Like, let's say I do end up learning a language from start to finish, there the question remains; now what?
How do I use that knowledge to make real stuff and not just some cool tricks?
How can I relate what I've learned and make 'real stuff' from it?
I feel like what I'm learning so far is so, how do I say it: that it's all just a scratch on the surface, and I feel like the rest of what I learn about the language will be just a scratch on the surface as well. It doesn't feel like I'm learning anything profoundly, just some cool tricks.
Yes I can write a if statement, so what? It feels like I have gained no real knowledge but that I can only do that cool trick. That's it.
I don't really know how to put it in words, but hopefully I'm making sense

The best answer that I could think of is for you to tackle what you want. If you want to make games and simply starting out. Then tackle Unity as it uses C# but not really hard to code as the game engine already took care of it.
If you're in to Website. I suggest Learning the MVC ASP.net C# basics is a core fundamental for you to grasp all the tutorials that they are offering that is why every time you dig in to a MVC and C# Tutorial, you must have a knowledge on the basic Coding.
This is not really the correct case for everyone as some have patience working on the books, stick to it till the end before using the knowledge on creating games, making Website or what so ever. But everyone is different and everyone as an anxiety feeling of "I want to do this now, later the basics" or "I need to learn the basics because, I am afraid of jumping ahead". It really depends on how you would feel. Because you can be both at an alternating time. For me, it is an never ending learning and you must breath and eat Coding if you really want to take a grasp on it.
In my Experience, i have completed the C# 3.0 main core and when I try to apply it in MVC ASP.net is easy as pie. Applying it to make a game in Unity3D is really easy as well.
Only then when I completed the C# 3.0 made me realize how important it is to learn the main languange and it encourages me to learn other programming language that is not originally my goal.
In the end, this is all I can offer you. NO ONE CAN TELL YOU HOW YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING OR WHAT IS THE BEST THING FOR YOU, ONLY YOU KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU.

The trick to being a programmer is breaking problems down in to smaller chunks. Your problem is you feel adrift in a sea of technologies and are at the bottom of a gradual learning curve (people typically would say its a steep learning curve but they're using the phrase wrongly!).
So break it down, what kind of programmer do you want to be, what lights your fuse? Web? Windows? Working with databases? Artificial intelligence? Playing with Web 2.0 interfaces?
I think you'll have most success if you have a goal, not just some hokey goal like 'learn web programming', but something you really want to build, or play with. If you don't want to build anything or play with anything, then maybe it isn't for you?
So, if you're interested in Windows apps, in C#, think of something small that you could do. So, just pick anything, doesn't have to be a viable product, just something for yourself, an address book, a recipe book, a reminder app. Doing that will give you focus, so you stop feeling adrift in an endless sea of tech. I've been doing it professionally for 15 years or so, and there's a lot of languages, platforms etc etc that I just do not have the time to explore, it really feels like everything has exploded in the last 10 years.

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how do I learn the foundations of programming [closed]

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I'm learning computer science at school (basic c#), I was very interested in this subject so I began to research on all the languages being used and just general things about coding. While reading one of the posts on this forum I saw an advice says "don't marry one language, learn the basic foundations of programming and then you will succeed with every language". what does "basic foundations of programming" mean, and do I need to learn specifically or it just comes with practice and learning other languages?
"Learn the basic foundations of programming" simply means to learn concepts, not languages. Languages come and go. It's easy enough to memorize the syntax of a single language and figure out through trial and error what each piece of code is doing in that language, but when you eventually move to another language, you're stuck repeating that process of memorizing code without ever learning what's going on with the code and why it works. This would be comparable to knowing how to operate a microwave without knowing why food comes out nice and hot after 2 minutes.
Many languages share common concepts and structures. A for loop, for example, appears in almost every programming language out there, but each language implements a for loop in a different way. However, if you learn the basics of what a for loop is, how it operates, and what it's basic purpose is, you can apply that understanding to every language you come across.
Even more basic foundations would be learning about concepts such as memory storage, caching, sorting algorithms, and boolean operators. These are all concepts that apply to every language and will improve your ability to effectively use a language if you have a firm grasp on them.
More basic than that would be learning about the computer itself. What is a CPU? What is RAM? If you understand the hardware of a computer, again, you can apply that knowledge to every language out there.
I started with visual basic years ago with the help of youtube tutorials. After that I was so interested in programming, that I attended a school with software programming as a main subject. In this school we started with Java and we learnt how object orientation works. After that I learned C and later on C++. Now I am programming in C#, Javascript and so on.
In my opinion, all you have to do is to be interested in learning programming and choose the language you like. It's true that after you are familiar with one language, you are able to change to another one since most of the time only the synthax differs from the language you've learnt.
If you start with C#, please don't start with graphical apps like WPF or WinForms. Try to start with console applications and try to learn the basics like object orientation, type casting and so on. As far as I know the Microsoft Virtual Academy provides a lot of free videos to get into programming. Just check some of them out.
Link: https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/training-courses/programming-in-c-jump-start-14254?l=j0iuozSfB_6900115888
Good luck!

Learn C# now or finish up with Java and then learn C#? [closed]

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Ok here is my situation. I've studied Java in my college for 2 semesters. But you know they teach you jack in there, just the basics. We skipped half of our textbook and even then our professors don't teach from section to section of each chapter. I don't blame them. It's hard as it is for new students to understand even the basic concepts of programming. Now this is a community college we are talking about and not Stanford, MIT or Berkeley.
So like I said I've done 2 semester of Java. I really like our textbook because it has some challenging projects to do at the end of each chapter. This textbook is pretty clear and i have no problem understanding it (although 2-D and 3-D Arrays have given me some trouble). I have tried reading a few C# books such as Pro C# 2008 and .NET 3.5 and C# 4.0 in a Nutshell. I found these books to be dry and overloaded with information that put me to sleep (No offense to the authors of those 2 wonderful, according to amazon ratings, books).
Would you suggest I finish my Java textbook, brush up my knowledge of Arrays, Polymorphism, and etc that are universal to most programming languages. And then switch to C#, plus the syntax is very similar so it should be easy to switch. Or should I just start learning C# right now from the very beginning? If it's the latter then could you recommend some free online resources that will keep me engaged and at the same time teach me everything I need to know about C#.
Someone has recommended me to learn .NET first, but I found it to be not the brightest idea. .NET is just a big monster full of libraries. How am I going to apply it if I don't even know the C# or VB!? Anyway back to my question: Master Java and switch to C# or just go with C#?
DISCLAIMER: I don't want to start .NET vs J2EE or C# vs Java flame war. I am going with C#. I've decided that I want to work in a Microsoft shop in the future. .NET is what I want to learn.
Thanks! Will be waiting for the answers.
I found myself in pretty much the same situation as yourself whilst studying Java at community college - I am smiling right now :). That was 10 years ago and D flat, as some wags were calling it, was starting to make some noises.
What I did, was do all of my assignments in both C# and Java, so that I could get to grips with both. I then begged to do my final year project in C#, which they eventually relented on. Getting practice in a couple of languages and doing a major project will stand you in good stead.
I have never looked back. Good luck! :)
Both Java and C# concepts and syntax are very similar.
I would concentrate on the one you expect to use after completing your studies. Look at which is asked for more often in the area you are intending to work.
As a side note, C# 4.0 in a Nutshell is an excellent book both for learning and reference. Suggest you give it another go.
I think I found the answer to your question...in your question.
For now, go ahead and finish your Java book as a way of continuing to learn the fundamentals of OOP.
Next (or while finishing the Java book), shift your focus to C# and the .NET framework (in most business situations, you'll be hard-pressed to find one without the other).
If you want to focus more on language elements of C# rather than a specific framework (such as ASP.NET, Silverlight, Windows Forms, or WPF, to name a few things), you might consider a book on LINQ, such as LINQ in Action from Manning Press. Combine your knowledge of LINQ with trying to solve some problems at http://projecteuler.net and you should start picking up the language pretty quickly.
Personally, I read Illustrated C# 2008 by Daniel Solis. Granted, it's not a textbook filled with lots of fun and challenging examples, but it is a good exposition of the language.
Don't worry so much about any particular language, and "Teach yourself programming in 10 years": http://norvig.com/21-days.html
Since it sounds to me like you don't really know a lot about programming, and this is largely your first major exposure to it, I think it's absolutely in your best interest to stick with something until you have learned enough of it that you are satisfied with your skill level. Jumping now may hurt you later, because you will be covering a lot of concepts you probably already know.. but hidden inside will be something you don't, and thus you will skim right over it.
Keeping yourself "engaged" is only something you can do, not the text. Certainly some texts are more interesting than others, but you have to be committed to reading the material whether or not you find it boring. That's how you learn.
Both Java and C# are syntactically similar at the basic level, but they both diverge from there in different directions and do similar things in different ways. Further, the languages are largely useless without the base class library, and those are often very different between languages.
What you didn't mention was how you are doing in school. Does your school require you to do more java work? If so, then you will have to stick with it. If not, and you are "done" with it, then perhaps starting over with C# from the beginning would not be a bad idea. Just think of C# as a new language you have to learn from the ground up, even if much of it seems familiar.
I found the Wrox book series to be particularly good to learn from, along with the Head First book series. As for which one to continue I would say it depends on what you are tested on. If you have to do written exams and write out sample code. You don't particularly want to start banging out C# by accident.

In what order do I increase my ASP.NET Knowledge? [closed]

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I have some experience in ASP.Net and can work my way around it without much trouble, however there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge of asp.net and .net in general.
I know the basics of c# and asp.net so I can accomplish most things. But I don't know anything at all about LINQ, Entity Framework, ADO.NET, delegates, ASP.NET Ajax, ASP.NET MVC, Providers, the different api's provided with asp.net (such as membership), the default controls that come with asp.net as well as the normal patterns used to create rich, stable and high performance asp.net sites. The list goes on and on....
I have really been wanting to upgrade my skills now and become a well rounded .net developer before I get left too far behind in the curve. I also have been meaning to look into ASP.NET MVC partially because I`d like to extend an open source project.
The problem is every time I get down to learning I get too overwhelmed. I dont know where to start, whats relevant, whats not. I basically need to figure out in what order should I be approaching all these different things and tackling them?
Should I get down with one of those monstrous asp.net 3.5 books (such as asp.net unleashed...1500pages) and read it from start to finish? And then pick up some book on ASP.NET MVC? Do I need to actually read such books from start to finish or are there topics I can safely skip?
Sorry if the question is badly worded but I think my problem should be evident. I feel .net is evolving very fast and I am getting left behind more and more. Aside from that I really want to be a good asp.net developer because web development is somewhat of a passion of mine.
Books I currently have in my possession...
ASP.Net 3.5 Unleashed
Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5
Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008
Javascript: The Good Parts
Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform
Write ASP.NET applications.
The best way to learn any platform is to write in it, and as you run into something you haven't seen or know how to do look it up. When you do that you are self teaching and will learn more and remember more if you read it form a book.
Get started here. It is a free book on MVC. Type in the examples rather than just reading it and modify the code slightly to something different. Then go out on your own. Your skills will increase quickly.
To echo what others have said, you have to write code. However, don't stop moving forward when you hit a wall. If you're stuck on "the best way to do X" (best practices) either look it up if it's simple enough, or pull it off to the best of your knowledge THEN look it up and either go back and refactor it, or the next time you come across it implement it with the new techniques you've picked up.
As for what to learn and the order to do so, I suggest focusing on what you feel you really want to pick up OR what you think is going to be the most relevant and applicable to your job. Granted, you might not work somewhere that is constantly using the latest technology, in which case you'll need to learn things on the side through some mini-projects. There's a lot out there, so narrow it down.
Another suggestion would be to start a simple project and decide to implement parts of it using a particular technology. So, for example, you might pick LINQ to SQL or the Entity Framework for your data access side. Then pick AJAX or jQuery to verify a form using simple validation. Store some data in XML and read it using LINQ to XML. LINQ to Objects opportunities are many with in memory collections, string parsing, etc. In other words think small and implement some items with a particular technology and you'll touch upon many things. From there you can begin to expand your scope and may decide to explore a particular technology further and do more with it.
I agree with David Basarab's recommendation for the free ASP.NET MVC ebook. In addition, be sure to check out the http://www.asp.net/mvc/learn/ site. There are many videos and the StoreFront series is a well known example to follow along with.
Geez man, have some fun with it.
Pick something that you'd like to make and then start making it. If a book helps you to make it faster/easier/whatever then get the book. If the project is at work, then learn the necessary skills needed to do the project and get it done.
I'd say I've learned the most by reading some blogs, and doing my own projects because they are fun. Who the hell goes and sits down and reads a 500 page book on tech crap? You could, and you could have no life. Or you could be pragmatic and use parts of the book to get real world things working and learn more about the process of completing something than just coding. Course, you'd learn coding along the way.
Even i am also in your same position. What i am doing is spending more time for coding the new things and thinking which one is working good and which one is not working good.
Along with that read the blogs , books, online videos ,online meeting , participate in online communitis like stackoverflow etc
I totally agree with the write code answer, but to add to it, you'll learn more than reading by working with the source code of a well written app that covers your weak points. Load it up, build it, make modifications, additions, and trace through it.
When you start from scratch, sometimes it can be overwhelming to decide from where to begin. With a pre-built solution, it's an accelerated start.
With coding, the hunt and peck is much more fun because you are an active participant and then after you're done coding, some sit back and read front to back about what I just did works for me.
I would not argue against books when you begin to work on a new platform.
I always try to have the one and only best book. I first start to programm an application. If the first unsolvable problem occurs I go to the bookstore or use google books to see what book has the best solution to my problem. This is not necessarily the best book. But after a couple of solved issues I know what is the best book for me. I only buy this single one.
This keeps my bookshelf clean and after a while I know my books very well. To be honest right now I only use 3 programming books at all and 1 on a daily basis.

Why do interviewers ask advanced questions? [closed]

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I've been programming for a few years in C# and XML. I used only the basics of those languages and have survived on the web for info like arrays and text manipulations. But when I am get interview, the interviewers ask only advanced questions - I found the answers later in the Advanced sections in the books on the subject.
Why do the interviewers ask such advanced questions? The job looks almost the same as what I was previously doing, so there's need for advanced knowledge, like what class delegate is or XPath commands.
Questions are:
What version of XSL does .NET 3.5 uses?
What XPath command to use to get value in element X?
What are class delegates in C#
Does C# allows multiple interface inheritance?
How do you access GAC in C#?
There are two reasons that I ask them.
To see a person actually say "I do not know the answer to that", as opposed to trying to BS through the question.
To see what kind of logical problem solving skills a person has.
Usually a question will be of one or the other, but not both. Both are extremely valuable in screening a perspective employee, however.
Also, the question might not actually be "advanced" for the position. It is reasonable to assume that Senior-level and/or Architects can answer questions that a Junior to Mid-level might not.
Perhaps because they are trying to find programmers who know more than the basic stuff. If they are trying to distinguish between a field of candidates, it isn't helpful to ask questions that everyone knows the answer to - how do you select among those candidates? If you're going to hire only 1 or 2 out of a pool of candidates, you need to find some harder questions that only 1 or 2 out the pool can answer.
Getting the answer wrong is what I want from an applicant in some cases.
One of the reasons I like to ask a question that I think the applicant will get wrong is to see how they adjust to the situation. How they handle getting something wrong and handle someone telling them how they should have answered etc. If they are very defensive or rude when you tell them they are incorrect then it is a good indication of how they will work on a team when many times your ideas will be challenged.
If they take the solution or recommendation and realize they can learn from it or even add to it that is usually a sign of someone what is easy to work with and willing to work 'outside of their box'. If they just make excuses and dance around trying to say why they could be right or should be right (in cases where they are clearly not) then this tell me when the same issue arises in the future this applicant is going to cause headaches.
Not so worried about the answer, more interested in how they react to the question / solution.
Another reason would be to gauge their level when hiring as well. You might be hiring for a bunch of positions but not sure where this applicant fits. Hard questions that show problem solving and attention to detail can sometimes make it easier to categorize their skill set.
I ask advanced questions for a few reasons:
Some of my questions are advanced usage of things everyone should know (not a trivia question) -- I want to see you reason through the answer using knowledge you have, but in a way that isn't common.
I want to see what happens when you don't know something -- do you give up?
I want to hire people that are serious about what they do. People that really care about the technologies they use tend to want to know the advanced stuff.
I want to see if there are gaps where you just don't know that an entire area of knowledge even exists. For example, in your XPath example -- I might be ok with: "I believe that XPath could be used to help solve this, but I don't know it well enough to write it out here" -- then I would show them a little XPath and see if they could apply it. If you don't even know that XPath exists, google isn't going to help you.
Likely they're just getting a gauge of where you are. They probably got stuck on this problem themselves and perhaps wanted to see if you could think of an answer on your feet.
I've experienced the same types of questions, and considering when I program I use excessive resources, this type of thing usually throws me off. Their loss.
Because competency as a programmer involves both depth and breadth of knowledge.
The interviewer is trying to devine your level of knowledge, and he is copping out by "borrowing" a question from the last chapter of that book.
Really, this is sloppy work on his part, relying on one question to guage your expertise level. You may have low programming skills, but recently come across the buzz-word, and are able to ace the interview.
I did get burned once in interviewing a candidate who professed high levels of C expertise. It turned out that he was reading "C for Dummies" and managed to BS through the interview process. I admit that I wasn't concentrating on his programming skills, but was looking for other aspects, which he also managed to BS through. Turns out his whole resume was a pack of lies.
Nowadays, I make sure the candidate has working knowlege of variable scope, persistance, pointer arithmetic, basic algorithms, structured programming, object-oriented programming, polymorphism, multitasking and inter-process communication. I will quiz him on his debugging skills, and zero in on details such as race-conditions, heisenbugs and security vulnerabilities.
Depending on the job, I will ask about experience in the target language - such as key=>value maps (arrays) in PHP, Swing programming in Java, event handling in C#, tables vs CSS in html -- you get the picture.
If the candidate passes the first part of the interview (I usually know within about 5 minutes), I will then give him a binder and send him into the coffee room (nice couch and table there) to prepare for 20 minutes for a code review on a selected module.
That's when I send in the troops - employees are instructed to use the coffee room normally, introduce themselves and make conversation for about a minute.
What I'm looking for is the ability to concentrate on a task (blatant ADHD), the ability to work under pressure, and interpersonal dynamics.
When the candidate returns, I have him act as main presenter and start our normal code review process. The first thing I look for is if he read the page titled "Code Review Process". I'm not looking for him to complete the review - about 10 minutes is enough. As a matter of fact, the fewer main lines processed, the better - within reason.
I haven't been burned by a new hire for a long time now.
Your username suggests you like coding (duh), but your question suggests you don't. If you really liked coding, then you should love to learn about it. Those questions that you listed are not that advanced.
Even if those questions were advanced, the interviewer is trying to gauge how much knowledge you have in the area that you say you have knowledge in. They are also trying to gauge how well you would fit into their group.
P.S. Not to be mean, but if you program using XML and don't know what XPath is, then you are a little far behind.
They probably want to see if you really know what you're talking about or if you're a novice programmer who gets along on the web using only what he has picked up through trial and error...
1.What version of XSL does .NET 3.5 uses?
Because they can't tell important things from non-important ones. Bad sign.
2.What XPath command to use to get value in element X?
Because they want to see if you know XPath. This can be either because they use it extensively and you need it to get they job done or because they think XPath knowledge == skill.
3.What are class delegates in C#
(I've never heard the term "class delegate" and a google search shows no definition, so I assume you mean just "delegate").
Delegates can hardly be considered an advanced topic.
4.Does C# allows multiple interface inheritance?
If they really asked about "interface implementation", it's part of the most basic concept so it's a valid question (although too simple to really mean anything). If they really asked about "interface inheritance", it's more of trivia, but I would still say acceptable. Bonus point for them if they asked what "interface inheritance" really means.
5.How do you access GAC in C#?
This is the kind of thing every team MUST have one person who knows. I'd say it's also a indication of seniority (which BTW, I don't care much about) since nobody reads about these things, the only way to find out is to be forced to solve a real-world problem.
I ask advanced questions to try see how people work through the problem. I like to ask questions that I don't know off the top of my head for that reason.
I want someone who is a critical thinker rather than just an academic who can recite text books to me.
They want to find someone with practical experience that extends beyond what is taught in beginner courses. When my company interviews candidates, we often find that most of the applicants cannot solve what we would consider to be very basic programming problems simply because they don't know the API or don't understand when to use various basic data structures.
If you want to impress an interviewer, work on your own programming projects outside of class. Learn a good chunk of the language API, and start learning about third-party libraries that can greatly simplify your work.
Another reason is to gauge your response to a question they really don't expect you to know the answer to. Problem solving skills are essential, so asking you questions you already know the answer to is not going to address that, is it?
There are even instances of companies asking odd, non-programming related questions just to see how you think your way through a problem. There is the classic "Why are manhole covers round" question, reportedly asked at Microsoft interviews.
More Microsoft interview questions
I'm not meaning to offend you but maybe your understanding of the job is not deep enough and it in fact requires knowledge of advanced techniques.
Also, you can do a lot of things with basic methods but advanced methods might the better way to implement regarding complexity, time to implement or maintainability.
There are many possible reasons. They may:
actually use those techniques (delegates and XPath aren't particularly rare or obscure)
have a large pool of candidates and want to try to find the more knowlegable ones
want to see where the limits of your knowlege are, so they ask question up to the point where you start to be unable to answer well
want to see how you might approach areas that are unfamiliar to you - to see how you might adapt to new stuff
want to show off their own knowlege (probably not a legitimate reason, but it certainly happens)
I've heard these really aren't in use anymore, or at least not nearly as much as they used to be, but you might be interested in this. I picked up a pretty cool short book a few days ago that has to deal with the "Microsoft style" logic interview questions that are sometimes asked. I'm a few chapters in and it gives a neat little history of the tech field's interview style and has a ton of logic problems, complete with answers in the back.
It's called "How Would You Move Mount Fuji" and it's on amazon for pretty cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0316919160/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
I've just completed a round of interviews, where I use a three or four stock 'simple' C# code fragments that the interviewee will look through and attempt to explain what the expected result will be. In each case the code sample is no more than ten lines of clearly-formatted code that utilises basic C# skills (inheritance, generics, anonymous delegates); also in each case there will be a 'gotcha' - but like others have stated, I don't put these in to be spiteful, they're there because I want to see how the candidate reacts when confronted with something that doesn't work as expected.
We had a candidate recently that had sailed through the first part of his interview; impressive CV, was apparently the Lead Developer of a team of 10 and had been developing code in C# since 1.0; yet apparently had no idea what "Console.WriteLine()" did (nor could he even hazard a guess), nor could he even begin to cope with the tiny anonymous delegate example.
Another candidate was self-effacing, and didn't know how to grade herself as a developer - she'd had less experience than the former candidate yet she sailed through the code samples, fell for a couple of the 'gotchas' but asked the right questions to get the correct conclusions and genuinely learnt from the experience. Needless to say, she was hired.
If you're claiming domain-specific knowledge (like XML) you should expect to be asked specific (and sometimes hard) questions about that domain; if I'm interviewing a senior ASP.NET developer and they've got no idea about HttpModules or HttpHandlers (like some recent interviewees) then alarm bells start to ring.

Improve proficiency in programming [closed]

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How can I increase my proficiency in programming? I have a grasp of the basics of C#, but don't feel too confident about my ability.
Code something in C#
Read C# Code and try to understand it.
Read a C# Book (and please none of the C# in 21 Days books)
The confidence comes with the experience.
Read Stack Overflow every day :)
Seriously. Try to solve interesting problems. Even if you don't post your solution, come back later and see if other people came up with something similar, why their solution might be different, etc.
Project Euler.
http://www.asp.net/LEARN/videos/
Voile, you are programing ASP.net.
Keep in mind that you may need a little more grasp on C# as your codes evolve. For that use a good book, most Microsoft's learn C# are pretty neat(The learn ASP.net is quite lame).
Of course, thats what I did back then(about 2 years ago), nowadays you should be able to find some awesome tutorials online.
Good luck ;)
Think of a fun project of some complexity (more that "Hello, world") and code it.
Practice, practice, practice!
Also read forums, blogs, participate in discussions. You will learn many things that aren't even mentioned in books.
read lots of code, write lots of code and keep a copy of C# 3.0 in a nutshell handy.
Learn new programming languages. Learn data structures and algorithms and design patterns. Learn regular expressions. Learn databases. Learn HTML/XHTML/DOM. Learn learn learn learn learn.
In programming, knowledge === power.
Work on something, even if it's reinventing the wheel. You can read books, watch videos and listen to podcasts all day, but the real experience comes from actually building an application. Don't build an application that you know you can build - instead, create an application that is slightly out of your reach, then rinse and repeat.
The experience when you realize that you created a mess of spaghetti code that is unmaintainable cannot really be substituted, as this then really allows you to look into techniques to improve your code. Sure, feel free to read on MSDN about Events, Delegates and Lambdas, but reading about them in the moment you need them means that the knowledge really burns into your memory.
I try to have a rough knowledge about as many topics as possible, but that's usually rather shallow: I know that a technique exists and roughly what problem it solves, so that when I need it I can learn about it.
In my opinion, the only alternative to first-hand real world experience is even more first-hand real world experience.
http://www.appdev.com/csharp.asp
:)
You say you are learning ASP.NET and C#. Have you ever done any programming or web development? Because, if you have not, then you need to take a step back and learn the basics of HTML, CSS and get a grasp of how data is passed via HTTP between client and server. I would also strongly advise getting a grounding in basic SQL, because most serious web development will utilise databases at some point.
After that, some basic OOP (Object-orientated programming) theory would do you good. That way you have a good grounding in the subject-matter before diving into the coding.
For learning C# the I'd suggest a couple of good tutorials:
The C# Station Tutorial and Softsteel Solutions C# tutorial.
I also found the ASP.NET Quickstarts useful when I was learning ASP.NET - I prefer to learn by example than by theory.
As for confidence, I'm afraid that only comes via experience. Perhaps try answering a few questions here? Getting a few up-votes might just give you that boost. Good luck.
This fits in to catagory of answers you've received thus far, but review open source projects.
Understand how they work and maybe even why they were put together in a given way. Not only will it improve your ability to write C# but it will also improve your understanding of Software Engineering which is ultimately how you put a programming language -- C# or otherwise -- to good use.
Creating a Project that makes use of a lot of different technologies is a good way to grasp a 'big picture' view.
As an example, think of an n-tier application where you input a value into a very simple web page, this value being sent into a web service, and behind that WS a simple business layer that switches between readings into a table of a data base, then you return the value finishing the output in a postback of the initial web page. In my Personal opinion, every element of the layer is a simple one, but, making the whole system work without errors is good beginner's challenge, that way you could build a confidence in your skills, enabling you to undertake any other idea.
Well, that were my two cents. Good Luck!
There may be so many projects that u can make.choose the project that makes u.it's true take a project that you consider difficult for your level.
1) analyse your project
2) define the objective
find things that are necessary to achieve the objective
3)then derive an algorithm which clearly explains the workflow
4)then start woking
In my experience "Learn By Working" is a good idea.first grab the basics then start the work soon you'll learn step by step.never give up ,be a ceaseless crusader.
practise practise it's a only way of surviving as a programmer.
Being a best programmer requires a lot of patience,thinking skills,Attention,a thrist for knowledge.
Wise people always replace the fear of unkonwn with curiosity
Actively participate in programming (and non-programming) forums.

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