how to become a good c# programmer

LearnItFirst

How to Become a Good C# Programmer

by Scott Whigham

© Copyright 2004-2009 LearnItFirst.com LLC. All rights reserved. All trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.

In this whitepaper, LearnItFirst founder Scott Whigham talks about how you can be-come a good (or better) C# programmer. This whitepaper is long - 15 pages - but it in-cludes both a step-by-step system to follow as well as an in-depth discussion of each step.

If you follow this 13-step system (with a bonus 14th step), you can’t help but become a good C# developer!

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By Scott Whigham

TechUrbia: A LearnItFirst Blog


I get questi ons through email (through the LearnItFirst.com website) all the ti me from people who watch my .NET training videos asking things like this recent email:

Hi Scott - I really like your C# training course and would like to ask you if you have any ti ps on how can I become a bett er C# developer?

Along with this type of email, I also commonly get questi ons like this:

I’m a student at university and would like to know how to become a good programmer. What’s the best way to learn to be good C# programmer?

I think I can help - and in a prett y standardized way that just about anyone with any apti tude for computer programming can

follow.

My System to Help Anyone Become a Good Programmer

Let’s get the bad news out of the way: this isn’t going to happen overnight. It probably won’t happen in under a year and it might take 2-3 years depending on how much ti me you put into it. But if you follow the steps below, I believe that you will become what you ask for: a good C# tprogrammer. You may not become a great programmer but I do believe that anyone who diligently follows this system can become a good programmer. Let’s take a look at the (long) list of steps:

1. Pick a language2. Pick a pet project3. Buy a few starter-level books or take a few online classes that are on your chosen language4. Begin reading the book/taking the class5. Implement your project while you are reading/taking the class6. Post your questi ons in an online forum dedicated to the language7. Find some sample apps writt en in your language and review how they did things diff erently8. Finish your book/class and buy another book/class that is specifi c to your language of a beginner/intermediate level9. Begin answering other people’s questi ons in forums10. Pick a new pet project and implement it11. Review some open source apps writt en in your language12. Contribute to open source apps13. Write a few arti cles on subjects you enjoy14. (Mystery bonus step listed at the end)

And while I’m sure that any suffi ciently advanced developer could add several items to this list, in my opinion as a pro-fessional developer and educator of developers that, if you follow this system, you will be able to start from scratch and become a highly paid, successful C# developer.




What You Do Not Need

A lot of people think that they need to have a Computer Science degree to be a good programmer but I disagree. I don’t have such a degree and I fancy myself a more-than-able developer. Computer Science degrees are wonderful things but they aren’t required to be a “good developer”. Will it help you be a bett er developer? Yes, I think that having such a degree would make anyone a bet-ter developer. But I don’t think it’s a requirement to be a good or even a great programmer. Now don’t misunderstand me: I think it’s great to take computer science classes but I don’t think that, in 2009/2010, having a computer science degree automati cally makes you a “good programmer.” You could, I suppose, make the case that a Soft ware Engineering degree would fi ll that gap and I might be more inclined to agree.

I also see people wondering about whether they have to be math gurus and again I say, “No.” It helps to know complex mathemat-ical structures but I’ve made a career out of being a programmer and I failed Trigonometry three ti mes (well, “failed” is perhaps the wrong word - “dropped out”, “stopped going to class”, “couldn’t get up in ti me” all might be more appropriate).

“Yes, but Scott you don’t need Trigonometry to be a good programmer; you need to know Calculus!” Oh. Okay, if you say so. I’ve never taken a Calculus class so I wouldn’t know.

Let’s Get Started

My “system” is easy - it’s 13 steps with an opti onal “bonus” 14th step (to be revealed later).

Step 1: Pick a LanguageThis is the most obvious fi rst step and, since you’re reading an arti cle ti tled, “How to Become a Good C# Programmer”, it’s safe to assume that you’ve chosen your language. And it’s a good choice incidentally - C# developers in the US in 2009

made anywhere from $60,000 - $120,000 on average according to htt p://www. payscale.com/.

Step 2: Pick a Pet ProjectThe idea here is that you fi nd some litt le project that you want to build and you build it. At the end of building it, you have given yourself some practi cal programming experience and learned quite a bit along the way. It’s not quite “trial by fi re”

but there’s an old computer programmer axiom: “The compiler doesn’t lie.” Your program either compiles or it doesn’t. You will learn right from wrong the old fashioned way: by screwing up and having to learn how to fi x it (a.k.a. debugging).

“But Scott - what should I choose as my pet project?”

Easy questi on actually - something that is “moderately ambiti ous.” I suggest you be go for something substanti al: aft er completi ng your pet project, you want to have a prett y, well-made applicati on that, if you were asked during a job interview to talk about the architecture and show it to the interviewer, you would feel a sense of pride. In fact, they will oft en ask you to bring/share copies of soft ware you have writt en (or at the very least show example code). Here are a few suggesti ons to get you started:

• Password manager• Contact Manager• FTP app• RSS reader• Font viewer• MP3 player• Note tracking app• Chat client• Time tracking app

Noti ce I didn’t say “Hello World” should be your pet project. You’ll need to do such an app but it is far below the standard of a pet project.




Your App Will SuckHere’s something you should know early on: you will do it wrong. The architecture will be wrong. It will not be fast. It will be buggy if put to the test. And, if you follow all the steps of my system, you’ll look back at this app and laugh at how silly it is a year from now. But you know what? All beginning programmer-level pet projects are that way and, since you have to start somewhere, this is just what you do. Don’t get inti midated by the sheer magnitude of what you need to learn in order for this pet project to become “great”; chances are that, by the ti me you know all the things it takes to build great apps, your mind will be on to much more exciti ng applicati ons. Just consider it a rite of passage. As Guy Kawasaki so famously said, “Don’t worry, be crappy.”

Learning About ScopeAnother thing you should start learning early on is the concept of scope and how important deadlines and prioriti zati on are to soft ware engineering. Scope out your project like this:

1. Get a pen and paper and write down the top 25 features your app should haveo Spend some serious thinking ti me away from the computer here to come up with criti cal featureso Next, load up (or review) some similar apps and see what you’ve forgott en or where you have added value with your feature list

2. Pick a date that you’d like to have your applicati on fi nished byo You want to give yourself enough ti me to fi nish the app but not so much ti me that you lose interest in the app because you have advanced beyond ito If you can devote 2-4 hours per day fi ve days a week, it should likely take you 2-4 weeks to complete

3. Decide what to cut out of your list of Top 25 featureso Separate the items into three categories:

* Criti cal - must exist for the app to be considered a [insert type of app] app* Important - these features generally exist in most of these types of apps* Like to have - would love to have them but, if they aren’t there, then it’s okay

o Assign ti melines to each task in the “Criti cal” category* Have you met your date from #2 above? If so, that’s it - go to the next secti on* If not, assign ti melines to each feature from the “Important” category and go through the same routi ne

The key takeaway from this exercise is that you need to learn how to design and implement features in applicati ons. Generally speaking, the fi rst version of an applicati on has far fewer features than version 2.0. Most of the ti me, the main features in version 2.0 were originally thought of prior to shipping version 1.0 but, due to prioriti zati on and ti me constraints, they got bumped to ver-sion 2.0. And don’t worry - you’ll get this wrong too (even seasoned pros get this wrong oft en). I’m terrible at this personally!

Learn to Ship On TimeOne of the most famous and oft -quoted lines regarding developers was penned by Steve Jobs (of Apple fame): “Great arti sts ship.” In other words, you can draw up the most elegant of applicati ons but if you don’t release it (i.e. ship) then it’s nothing. Have a deadline and work like #### to make that deadline. There may be delays - there are almost always delays in soft ware - but ship quickly. Again: you will mess up and it won’t be prett y. Get over it and just ship it!

Databases Are EverywhereYou’ll noti ce that, in most of my suggesti ons, there is persistent data storage required - i.e. each ti me you execute the app, you want access to the data/state you previously entered. Do not shy away from this! It’s hard to write applicati ons today that do not, at some level, just persistent data storage whether it be in the form of cookies, XML fi les, or a database of some kind (like SQL Server, MS Access, Oracle, etc). Step 3 will help you with this...

One Final Suggesti onAlthough you could make your pet project a web applicati on, I’d advise against it for the ti me being.




Step 3: Buy a few starter-level books or take a few online classes that are on your chosen language

As the founder of the web’s greatest video training company, I’m obviously biased towards video training classes. In fact, I have what I believe to be a very good C# training class for Visual Studio 2005 (and a Visual Basic version as well) over at htt p://www.learnitf irst.com/. However I also love, love, love reading books. So pick up a video class or a book - just one for the ti me being though. I’ve found that if I buy too many books when I’m fi rst learning a language that I get overloaded and it makes the process of learning a language more diffi cult. However, what works for me may not work for you so don’t just do what I say because I said that it works for me!

What to Look For in a Starter-Level Book or Online Video ClassObviously you want good coverage of the topics that will help you build your pet project. This includes:

• Building GUIs• Working with persistent data storage• Working with fi les and folders• Basic architecture• Basic object-oriented architecture and design (OOAD - also referred to as “class design” in certain places)• Chapters that can be digested individually

o You don’t want a book/course that, if you skip an early chapter (say, Chapter 5 for example), you can’t fi nish the rest of the book.

What You Don’t Care AboutMany beginner-level books include intricate sample projects that span multi ple chapters that are meant to replace Step 2 in my system (the pet project). You’ll recognize such books when you see marketi ng speak on the front cover such as, “Learn how to build a Password Manager!” or, “Build Your Own Web Server.” I’m not a fan for two reasons:

1. I’ve never once fi nished one of these long, multi -chapter sample projects despite reading more than ten books of said type2. I think that you will learn faster and retain more by having to learn how to implement your own applicati on without anyone there to “hold your hand” (i.e. by giving you the code fi les and step-by-step instructi ons)

Sample projects have their place but intricate, multi -chapter sample projects can be detrimental to the learning process in my opinion. Again: look for books/courses that have decoupled chapters (i.e. chapters that can be taken independently).

Step 4: Begin reading the book/taking the class

Obvious step - couple of things to note:

Just Because They Are the Expert Doesn’t Mean They Know EverythingSpeaking as both an “expert” and an educator, I can tell you the inside truth: experts are experts in what they know. I know that sounds simplisti c but it’s true: you can ask me tons of questi ons about things I know and I will dazzle you (maybe?) with my intri-cate knowledge of this or that parti cular piece/functi on/method/facet/property/etc. But ask me questi ons about complex topics that I have no real-world experience in and I’ll fumble around like anyone (and I’ll look very litt le like an expert).

Whenever someone tells you about a “best practi ce” or you hear phrases like, “That’s the way everyone does it”, it’s a good idea to have a reality check and verify what they are telling you is true. At this stage of your development, you likely won’t have the knowledge to ask smart questi ons so it’s important to keep notes of topics/areas that you’ll want to cover later in your develop-ment. You may fi nd that you will learn things later on in this system that go completely against what you learn in Steps 3 and 4.

You know what? You will also misinterpret many things and completely gloss over incredibly important topics. This is normal.




Keep a Notebook and Code ManagerSpeaking of keeping notes, you will have so many questi ons at the beginning of your adventure to become a bett er C# program-mer that you need a way to organize them. I’m a huge fan of OneNote and I think it’s cut down the ti me it takes me to learn and master a new language. Check it out: htt p://offi ce.microsoft .com/en-us/onenote/default.aspx

In your notebook, you’ll want to have secti ons/categories similar to:

• Questi ons I Have• OOAD• Data types• To-do List• Working with Databases• Working with Files and Folders• Code Snippets• Tips & Tricks• Best Practi ces

In each secti on/category, you’ll take notes and maybe even reference page numbers, videos, specifi c concepts, etc.

Tip #1: A good technique for learning is to take notes on a sheet of paper and then transfer them to One-Note later. This allows you to physically parti cipate in the learning process three ti mes: (1) when you read/heard the material [i.e. aurally], (2) when you physically wrote it down, and (3) when you physically typed it in.

Tip #2: Use good SIPs (stati sti cally improbable phrases) in your notes to make it easy to fi nd topics later.

Step 5: Implement your project while you are reading/taking the class

Don’t wait - get started quickly. I don’t expect that you’ll have the knowledge to begin unti l you are a few chapters in at the earli-est though so don’t just start with no knowledge; wait unti l you have enough knowledge of C# OOAD to intelligently start. Gener-ally OOAD is covered prett y early on in any compendium on a .NET Framework-based language so that shouldn’t be a problem.

Start with the GUIThis probably goes against the grain of much conventi onal programming advice but hey - it’s my “system” therefore I can tell you what I think works best. I fi nd that if I start with the visual elements when fi rst working with a pet project, I can visualize/think of the rest of the applicati on much easier. It gives me a frame of reference if you will and allows me to quit thinking in utt er abstract terms and lets me to hone in on accomplishing specifi c things (like what happens when a user clicks the Submit butt on). Later on in your career you will learn of diff erent techiques but, for now, this is an easy way to dive in.

Don’t get too fancy here - start with the fi rst screen that the user will see; it is okay to add fancy items like splash screens and product icons if you wish. The key thing here is not to get so bogged down in the architecture that you have to re-do too much work later on (called refactoring).




How to Design a GUIWhile everyone has their own way of doing this, let me off er a suggested system for designing your fi rst GUI:

1. Start with a pen and paper and write up what it should look like (i.e. where the icons and butt ons go)2. Conti nuing with pen and paper, write up what menu items should be3. Once fi nalized, move to a graphics editor and create a mockup. You can use fancy tools like Photoshop or Illustrator if you have the budget or free tools like Paint.NET to create your mockup.

o Although graphic mockups are not a necessity, I fi nd them helpful. Others fi nd tools like Balsamiq (htt p://balsamiq.com/) or Mockup Screens (htt p://mockupscreens.com/) more helpful. To each his own!

4. Once you have the mockup, now it’s back to the Visual Studio to create it! Use your book/class for reference on how

to accomplish this.

Tip #3: It’s okay to skip ahead/around in your book/class (from Step 3) to the secti on that talks about how to create GUI elements!

Aft er completi ng the GUI design, you will have a prett y applicati on (if you did the graphic design well) that doesn’t do anything.

Aft er the GUI, Start with EventsThe next thing you want to do is start “wiring up” the butt ons and menu items. This is where your programming skills will begin to develop. GUI drag-and-drop at this stage of your career is oft en nothing more than drawing the mockup graphics/items onto the editor (at least it’s that way in Visual Studio). You can’t mess up and you can’t do it wrong - if you do make a mistake, just delete it and drag-and-drop another item onto the surface. The actual work is done when you decide the applicati on’s response to things like:

• What the app does when something loads or unloads (i.e. appears on the screen and leaves the screen)• What the app does when a user clicks a butt on or menu item• What the app does when the user clicks Maximize, Minimize, or closes the applicati on

As a C# developer, you’ll spend much if not most of your ti me determining what happens when an event occurs. Events, as your book/class from Step 3 will teach you, are what happens in response to something occurring (like what happens when a user clicks the “Submit” butt on). Go ahead and get your events in place - you can add the actual functi onality later on.

Aft er completi ng this step, your applicati on will respond to events (i.e. clicks) but won’t perform any actual work.

Aft er the Main Events, Do Your Class DesignThe reason I advocate pushing this step unti l aft er you have both the main GUI elements and main events in place is that, if you start with the class design and then do the GUI + events, inevitably you fi nd how screwed up your class design was and you have to rip it out and start over! It will happen even by delaying the OOAD unti l this point but the chance is that, by delaying this step unti l you have semi-fi nalized your design and events, it will happen to a lesser degree than if you had just started with OOAD. Later on in your career you may opt to start with OOAD/class design but, for now, it’s just easier to start with the GUI, then deter-mine the events you need, and fi nally to determine the OOAD.

Aft er completi ng this step, your applicati on will sti ll respond to events (i.e. clicks) but won’t perform any work since you’ve only designed the classes, not implemented them.




Aft er the Class Design, Implement Method StubsMethod stubs are a way for you to “kind of” get your program working. When you create in this manner, you will go ahead and create your objects along with the methods and properti es for each. What you won’t do, however, is to fi nalize the method/prop-erty code; you’ll put a stub in place instead. Think of a method stub as a placeholder for work to be done in the future. In most cases, you won’t have the necessary knowledge to write each method/property yet so go ahead and create the stub as a place-holder.

Tip #4: Use excepti ons to help you remember what is a method stub and what has been implemented

Tip #5: Use comments in your code to tell Visual Studio that this is a TODO list item: // TODO: This is a method stub!

Aft er the Method Stubs, Write the PseudocodeLearning to write pseudocode is a criti cal skill. Pseudocode is how you write the “how” of what your method/property will do but you write it in a programming language-like format. I’ve seen very complex pseucode examples and I’ve seen bullet points on a piece of paper serve the same functi on. To me, it doesn’t matt er - use whatever helps you understand the goal of the method/property. I’ve found many ti mes that, in writi ng the pseudocode, that my logic was completely backwards and that I needed to rethink how the applicati on worked. That’s awesome because it means that I didn’t have to spend a ton of ti me refactoring the applicati on!

Aft er the Pseudocode, Code It UpNow more procrasti nati ng - get to work!

Step 6: Post your questions in an online forum dedicated to the language

While you go through the Steps 3-5, you will likely:

• Get excited about the possibiliti es that C# has to off er • Become dazed and confused• Get utt erly frustrated with how vast C# and the .NET Framework are • Get utt erly frustrated with how complex soft ware engineering is • Mess up royally by either overwriti ng changes that took you hours to complete, forget to backup your fi les, or need a complete refactor

You know what? It’s all normal for you at this stage. Your life as a C# programmer will likely follow the Gartner Hype Cycle:



How to Become a Good C# Programmer In the graphic describing the Garner Hype Cycle:

• The “Technology Trigger” is your deciding to learn C# or to become a good C# programmer• The “Peak of Infl ated Expectati ons” is what happens when you start seeing C# as the soluti on to everything• The “Trough of Disillusionment” is when you realize that (a) C# isn’t the soluti on to everything, (b) that C# is massive,(c) that writi ng soft ware is hard, (d) that there is so much to learn, and (e) that this isn’t going to be as easy as you thought• The “Slope of Enlightenment” is when you start to “get it”• The “Plateau of Producti vity” is when you become a good C# programmer!

Your Goal: To Minimize Your Time in the Trough of DisillusionmentLet me tell you: it absolutely sucks to be bitt erly disappointed with what you’ve chosen to do. “This is way too hard for me - there’s just so much to learn that I’ll never learn it all!” While you may not be able to “learn it all”, you can learn enough to be a good C# programmer, I promise you. There are several techniques to minimize your ti me in the Trough of Disillusionment, a few of which are listed here:

1. Read/study more (i.e. the brute force technique)2. Find a mentor

3. Ask for help

If you have a friend to ask for help, then your life is made just a bit easier. Most newbies aren’t so lucky - they may not know any programmers or, if they do, the programmers may be at their job and if the newbie lets on how much they don’t know, they could get in trouble at work. That leaves the internet!

Find an Online Forum and Ask Questi onsWe “good programmers” expect you to do this and, if you don’t (or don’t follow forum eti quett e), we think far less of you. It shouldn’t be diffi cult to fi nd a friendly online C# forum - in fact, Microsoft hosts one of the best over at htt p://social.msdn.micro-soft .com/Forums/en-US/category/netdevelopment. And I can’t say this enough: learn how to post! Learn how to ask questi ons by reviewing how others have asked questi ons. There are several good arti cles on neti quett e:

• Tips for Posti ng Data and Code: htt p://www.sqlservercentral.com/arti cles/Best+Practi ces/61537 • Tips for Posti ng Questi ons in a Forum: htt p://www.mozilla.org/community/eti quett e.html * features my favorite topic: “Don’t hijack the thread!”

You Will Get Stuck in Your Pet ProjectAsk questi ons in the forum so that you get out of the Trough of Disillusionment and on the path to the Slope of Enlightenment!

Step 7: Find some sample apps written in your language and review how they did things differently

Chances are that, while completi ng your class/book (from Steps 3 and 4) and your pet project (from Step 5), you will come across at least one sizable sample project writt en in your chosen language. Let me off er a bit of advice:

1. Look for complete applicati ons o In my experience, complete applicati ons tend to be bett er vett ed, contain bett er code, and have less errors than just quick “How to” example code.

2. Check out the author(s)o Authors oft en contribute on multi ple projects so, when you fi nd a good contributor/author, check out what else they have that you can download! You also might wish to see if the author/contributor has a blog, a book, a class, etc.



How to Become a Good C# Programmer For the Microsoft community, CodePlex.com is generally the hosti ng site of choice for “sample” apps and general release apps alike. For many applicati ons, you can download both a compiled version and the source (oft en in both C# and Visual Basic). There are literally hundreds of high quality sample applicati ons to choose from - here are a few that have C# source code included:

• htt p://www.codeplex.com/ CodePlex.com has literally thousands of apps• htt p://tweety.codeplex.com/ Tweety - a C# Twitt er client• htt p://imagemaster.codeplex.com/ ImageMaster (for managing .iso fi les)• htt p://youdown.codeplex.com/ YouDown - download YouTube videos• htt p://indihiang.codeplex.com/ IIS Log Analyzer• htt p://tweetcraft .codeplex.com/ TweetCraft - an in-game Twitt er client for World of Warcraft • htt p://skypefx.codeplex.com/ Skype Voice Changer• htt p://terrarium2.codeplex.com/ .NET Terrarium

Just Be WaryJust because the code works and has prett y graphics doesn’t mean that it is well-writt en code...

What to Look ForYou’re really wanti ng to see the big picture - the “how” of why the authors/contributors did it the way they did. You aren’t so much looking for specifi c code examples as much as you are looking to see how professionals ship code. Look for things like:

• How did they create the soluti on: one project or multi ple projects?o If multi ple projects, why?

• How did they handle class design? o It’s oft en handy to pick a problem and try to decide how you would’ve designed the OOAD and then compare it to how the authors did it.

• Do you get any compiler bugs?o Can you fi x them?

• Did they do things the way that your book/class author (from Step 3) showed you?

o What is diff erent?

Don’t be surprised if you have much diffi culty answering the above questi ons - aft er all, the people who contributed to the sample app you just downloaded probably have several more years of experience than you do. But that’s okay - you’re well on your way to becoming a good C# programmer!

Step 8: Finish your book/class and buy another book/class that is specifi c to your language of a beginner/intermediate level

You have two choices for conti nuing your educati on aft er you’ve completed your pet project and fi rst C# book/class:

1. Conti nue with domain-specifi c knowledge (i.e. get another C# book/course)2. Branch out to soft ware engineering topics like OOAD or design patt erns



How to Become a Good C# Programmer Personally, at this stage, I think you’re bett er off going with opti on #1: getti ng a C#-specifi c book/course. I know there are tons of folks who would disagree - and you might should listen to them! - but I think that, at this point in your career, it is quite diffi cult to wrap your head around abstract concepts for months at a ti me; instead I’ve found that people learn bett er when they can apply what they are learning to their language of choice. There are plenty of Soft ware Engineering cum C# books and courses out there that combine the two as well (“Head First C# Design Patt erns” is a great one BTW).

However, I would suggest you pick a next-level book that helps you acquire specifi c skills that you can use to get a job. Learning design patt erns in C# is great but they won’t open fi les, make web service calls, do type conversion, or teach you boxing/unboxing. Right now you should be 1-2 months into your C# career and, in my opinion, you sti ll need to learn more of the basics of C# before getti ng into topics like design patt erns and OOAD specifi c topics.

So focus on fi nding a beginner/intermediate level book that helps you accomplish something that you can get paid to do:

• ASP.NET (now’s a good ti me to start with web apps incidentally)• How to work with SQL databases• Working with Silverlight• Pick up a comprehensive course/book on the .NET Framework

I’m sure that this advice is just “crazy” to some people but look: I’m just one guy who knows C# and knows training. By no means does that mean I know how to train everyone because not everyone learns the same way or at the same pace. Take my advice with a grain of salt. Does it make sense to you? Then I hope it helps. If it doesn’t make sense, don’t do it!

What to Look ForSince Step 10 is coming up and it is all about picking another pet project, pick something that can help you towards that goal.

Step 9: Begin answering other people’s questions in forums

Now that you know a litt le, you can start helping others. One of the most proven ways to learn is by teaching others. You may think you know how things work but trying to explain a tough topic to someone who knows less than you when you don’t fully understand the topic is tough for anyone! So help others - look for the newbies and try to guide them along. Make suggesti ons that reference books/courses/authors/trainers - people love that stuff . Just follow good forum eti quett e!

Step 10: Pick a new pet project and implement it

Now’s the ti me to move into ASP.NET, Silverlight, WPF, or whatever technology you want to work on. This should be an applicati on that you take with you on job interviews and that, if it’s good enough, you release as open source soft ware yourself (maybe on htt p://codeplex.com). Take your ti me, fi nd something interesti ng to work on, and make sure that it highlights things you like. You’d be surprised at how oft en employers fi nd job candidates in forums and in the open source community.

Suggesti ons for Your Final Pet Project

• Take it seriously• Use high quality graphics (spend a few bucks to get them a la carte from a place like htt p://istockphoto.com/)• Embed your name on each source code page• Have friends test it out




Learn About UsabilitySoft ware developers are not renowned for creati ng great, usable applicati ons by default; we have to work really hard to make our applicati ons usable by people who didn’t write the code. Two book suggesti ons:

• Steve Krug’s seminal work, Don’t Make Me Think• Janice Redish’s Letti ng Go of the Words

Final Thoughts on Your Final Pet ProjectThere is nothing wrong with going back to your fi rst pet project and implementi ng more features...

Step 11: Review some open source apps written in your language

This is similar to Step 7 in which you reviewed several sample applicati ons. The diff erence here is that you want to go with a litt le more “upscale” applicati ons - more fully implemented apps and more apps writt en by a community. Here are a few:

Open Source ASP.NET Website Apps:• htt p://www.asp.net/community/projects/ ASP.NET Starter Kits are a great resource for this stage • htt p://www.yetanotherforum.net/ YetAnotherForum is a quality ASP.NET forum site • htt p://cartrackr.codeplex.com/ Car Trackr is an ASP.NET MVC app • htt p://www.codeplex.com/Kigg Kigg is an ASP.NET digg copy using the MSFT Enterprise Library and LINQ to SQL • htt p://www.codeplex.com/oxite Oxite is an ASP.NET MVC CMS • htt p://bugnetproject.com/ Bugnet is an open source, ASP.NET bug tracking system

Open Source C# Windows Forms Apps:• htt p://www.nunit.org/ NUnit is essenti al for all Windows-based developers • htt p://sharpdevelop.codeplex.com/ SharpDevelop (a.k.a. #develop) is a free, open source IDE • htt p://code.google.com/p/iphonebrowser/ iPhone developer • htt p://xmlexplorer.codeplex.com/ XML Explorer • htt p://turtle.codeplex.com/ turtle SQL helps you generate SQL Server database documentati on • htt p://terminals.codeplex.com/ Terminals is a complete replacement for the default Terminal Services client • htt p://sourceforge.net/projects/keepass/ KeePass is a combo C++/C# app

The two “biggies” for open source for the .NET Framework tend to be htt p://www.codeplex.com/ and htt p://sourceforge.net. CodePlex, because it is run by Microsoft , is a more ti ghtly focused (and possibly more targeted) group of .NET apps whereas I fi nd SourceForge to be a diffi cult site to navigate and fi nd something interesti ng.

Step 12: Contribute to open source apps

You can’t just be a leech (i.e. someone who takes but provides nothing in return) - now it’s your turn to help out. Contributi ng to open source applicati ons has many benefi ts:

• You’ll learn to integrate with a pre-existi ng team • Your knowledge and comfort levels will be expanded • You’ll learn the style of others (everyone has their own coding style) - example • You will be exposed to technologies/techniques that you would not have otherwise seen • You’ll feel good that you helped make a product bett er in some way • You may receive a level of notoriety by being on the team • Many companies will not hire people who have not contributed to open source projects • Being a developer on open source projects is oft en seen as showing passion for development




Here are a few good resources as well:

• How to start contributi ng to open source projects htt p://www.kegel.com/academy/opensource.html • How I got a job at Fog Creek soft ware htt p://hicks-wright.net/blog/how-to-get-a-job-at-fog-creek-part-1/

What to Look For in an Open Source ProjectYou want an acti ve community and by “acti ve” I mean that you want to see a steady history of changes, new features, modifi ca-ti ons and so forth. Seeing a road map is nice too.

Also, you want something that you care about. Look - we’re all volunteers in the open source world. If you don’t care about bug tracking then don’t join a bug tracking applicati on - you’ll end up quitti ng or getti ng booted out because you aren’t spending the ti me. Also, that road map I menti oned earlier is important - if you see that the applicati on is due to take a turn into a technology that you don’t care to learn, then don’t join.

I also would like to see that the tasks needed to be performed would interest me. If the task list is, “Provide documentati on for all classes” well, I might skip that one... Sure it needs to be done but I’m not likely to learn as much performing that task as I am performing a task like, “FTP download routi ne has a bug - fi nd it and fi x it”.

What Not to Look ForDon’t look for polish everywhere - that’s not that important. I worked on YetAnotherForum (htt p://www.yetanotherforum.net/) for literally years and, when I started on it, it was poorly documented, the SQL Server database was a joke, the class design was weak, and so forth - but I learned a great deal working on it. The guys on the project are great guys and they learned as they went too. If I was looking for polish then I would’ve looked elsewhere. However, what I saw was that this soft ware did what I wanted, that I felt I could improve upon it, and that it was in an area that I had a passion for. So don’t get hung up on logos, pretti ness of butt ons, great descripti ons, full-blown documentati on - look for places where you can add value.

Step 13: Write a few articles on subjects you enjoy

Remember back in Step 9 when I suggested that you start answering other people’s forum questi ons because it helps you learn? Well this is similar: writi ng an arti cle about a diffi cult topic will force you to spend a good deal of ti me on areas that you thought you knew but, upon delving into them, you realize that you’ve only scratched the surface. Pick topics that you like - don’t worry if the topics have already been covered by others; your goal is to help yourself learn to become a good C# programmer, right? So write arti cles that force you to learn and that force you to simplify complex topics.

“Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage- to move in the opposite directi on”- Albert Einstein

You want to do one thing: make complex topics seem simple to the reader. Why? Because if you can do that, you have shown you have a deep understanding of the topic. Another great quote is from one of my musical heros:

“Making the simple complex is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creati vity.” - Charles Mingus




Other Reasons to Write Arti clesAt this point in your career, you likely either have a decent programming job or are eligible to get one. If you want to move up the career ladder as quickly as possible, you need great communicati on skills. Just like being a good C# programmer takes practi ce, be-ing a good author (or trainer) takes practi ce. Writi ng comes naturally to some but is diffi cult for others. Here’s the truth: develop-ers who have “the knack” for creati ng readable documentati on, succinct emails, and who can empathize with their audience will generally move up the career ladder faster than those who can’t. By forcing yourself to write arti cles, you’ll not only learn things about C# and programming but you’ll learn how to communicate complex topics quickly and succinctly - and that will pay divi-dends over your enti re career.

Writi ng arti cles also gives you a public persona which can be a positi ve thing (provided that your arti cles are quality). Potenti al employers will do a quick Google search (ahem - or a Bing search) to see what you’ve writt en, what you’ve posted online, and generally to see what they can fi nd out about you. Make it easy: provide them with links to your arti cles in your resume. I’ve seen people who go so far as to put their forum user names in their resumes so that potenti al employers can see their parti cipati on!

Where to Publish Your Arti clesI suppose “arti cles” is a bit of an offi cious word - these could be blog posts if you wish. You have several opti ons:

• You can create your own blog and host the arti cles there (employers *love* this)• You can fi nd popular blog aggregati on sites and post them there• You might even be able to post them here (just ask us over at LearnItFirst)• You could publish them in printed magazines.

Personally I favor creati ng my own blog and posti ng things there. I’ve always been that way although I’m not sure its the best thing for you. Check out some of the popular blog sites and see what it takes to have your blog hosted by them. You’ll give up certain publishing rights yet you’ll be given an audience (and that’s important).

Step 14: The Mystery Bonus Step!

If you’re sti ll wanti ng to know what it takes to be a good C# programmer, the fi nal bit of advice I can off er is to start your own business! Whether you want to sell commercial soft ware, have an adverti ser-supported ASP.NET website, or do consulti ng, having your own business is a great way to get bett er. It forces you to listen to your users - if you don’t, they won’t pay you. And you don’t have to start full-ti me; most developers have side projects in additi on to their day job.

So start your own business - if you’ve followed the previous thirteen steps I outlined, you’ve got enough experience to design apps and to help others. You likely don’t have the experience to be considered a “great” programmer but hopefully that will come with ti me for you!




Now You Have the System

I believe that, if you follow the thirteen steps that I outlined in this arti cle, you will become a good C# programmer. You just can’t help but become a good programmer when you do things like learn from people with tons of experience (i.e. reading the right books, taking the right video classes, and reviewing quality developer’s code). It will take you ti me to become a good C# developer but, like all things worth doing, you will have a sense of pride once you’ve gone through these steps. And if you do Step 14 - the one where you create your own business - you might even be one of those people who makes their living from writi ng their own soft ware (and that’s a great feeling - trust me).

I wish you luck and I hope that you will share this arti cle with others so that, together, you and I can make someone’s life a litt le bit bett er.

The Next Steps

Inevitably everyone wants to know, “What now? I’ve followed the system and I’m doing well - where do I go from here?” Really it’s just more of a “Rinse and Repeat” mantra: fi nd some books/classes, contribute to more open source projects, develop more pet projects, read more books, take more classes, etc. You need ti me and “seasoning” to go from “good” to “great”. The good news is that even good programmers can write great programs, enjoy programming, and make a great living. In fact, it’s quite easy to just be a “good programmer” for your whole life. I hope you’ll go on to become a “great programmer” though!

What Does It Take to Become a Great C# Programmer?

Whew - big questi on! It certainly takes years of experience - I think everyone can agree on that point. What else though? I think most people who list these att ributes:

• High intelligence • Training on the right things (i.e. “perfect practi ce” as opposed to “practi ce makes perfect”) • Exposure to many systems and styles • Passion for learning, developing • Creati vity • In-depth knowledge of internals • Ability to make complex topics simple • Unit testi ng knowledge• Knowledge of patt erns • Ability to quickly solve problems • Ability to accurately scope projects and provide accurate ti melines • Ability to hit deadlines • Ability to debug quickly and effi ciently

There are many more att ributes and skills, of course, but these are defi nitely in the ballpark.

How can you develop these skills?

I wish I could say, “This one thing - if you’ll go do this one thing, you’ll become a great developer” but I just can’t - it’s not pos-sible. In my opinion, some people aren’t born to be great programmers. Some people have all of the att ributes except the ability to stay focused and hit a deadline - and they aren’t great programmers. Others become really great at a specifi c version yet allow their skills to age - they don’t update their skillset as new versions or technologies replace what they mastered. That’s where the passion for learning and technology comes into play - you’ve really got to love developing to put in the hours it takes to remain a great developer.


By Scott Whigham

TechUrbia: A LearnItFirst Blog


About LearnItFirst.com: LearnItFirst is a leader in the online video training for the Microsoft community. With nearly 400 hours of classroom-quality video training online, LearnItFirst has one of the largest online training video libraries on the web today. LearnItFirst’s online courses are a cross between a “live” instructor-led class and a “how to” book. Customers get the af-fordability and portability of a book and the “Watch and Learn” of having a live instructor. All courses feature full-screen resolution videos with high quality audio to ensure the very best possible training experience. LearnItFirst.com LLC was founded in 2004 and is based in Dallas, Texas.


I’ll give you a few books that will allow you to help yourself (look them up in your search engine of choice):

• The Pragmati c Programmer - a must for anyone serious about becoming a great developer • Code Complete - techniques, design patt erns, “life as a programmer” • Head First Design Patt erns - I think most developers have this book! • The Mythical Man Month: Essays on Soft ware Engineering - You just thought you knew programming...

There are many, many more books worth reading - I’ve only focused on pure programming-related books. There are books that change your outlook on life, books that moti vate you, and inspirati onal biographies that can make you feel like a small, insignifi -cant ant - all of which most great developers enjoy. The one thing I’m sure of is that it takes a desire to learn and improve. With-out that, the rest will not follow.

I wish you luck on your journey!

About the AuthorScott Whigham is the founder of LearnItFirst.com, one of the web’s most extensive video training librar-ies focusing on technical training. Scott has recorded more than 1,200 training videos on topics like SQL Server, .NET, and more. You can read more from Scott at:

htt p://www.techurbia.com/scott -whigham.html

htt p://twitt er.com/Scott Whigham