C#, where to start?

Reppyboyo

Reppyboyo

Reppyboyo

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Joined
3 May 2004
Posts
3,315
Hi,

Been trying to learn C# to expand my career options but I've been struggling to say the least.
I've been following the lessions in CodeAcademy but I dont find them very well structured.

Is there any other recommended guides or lessons somewhere I can try?

Thanks all.
 
What's your background?
Pluralsight is great. I've never used it to learn a language from scratch, but they have plenty of c# courses though for all abilities.
 
I came here to ask a similar question.

Pluralsight and LinkedIn learning are both quite good for courses.

But I can complete courses and the examples within until the cows come home, but I think the best way to learn is to try some real world programming, and looking for help when needed.

I guess it depends on your learning style, I tend to learn by doing stuff.

Also doing some projects outside of these courses will allow you to build a portfolio that you can show to potential employers, which is a bonus.

Therefore, as well as course recommendations for the OP can anyone suggest where to start with some challenges or projects that can be used as a staring point for building up a programming ' repertoire' of sorts as well?
 
Background? Uhhh.... Default windows?
I don't know what you mean by that in all seriousness though.

Thanks for the suggestion on pluralsight, I'll give the free trial a go.

A friend of mine made the suggestion of making programs you need but already have. A calculator or notepad for example.
I don't really have the experience to do this yet though.
 
Sorry, by background I meant whether you had an experience of programming previously and just want to learn c# or whether you're starting completely from scratch. By 'expanding your career options' I took that to mean you were already working in IT/software to some degree? Why are you choosing c#?

If you're starting out from scratch I wouldn't get hung up specifically on c#, there will be a number of courses that can explain fundamental concepts that are not language-specific.
 
oh no I have zero background experience in programming, bar some HTML from...10 years ago or so?

C# was recommended to start with by a few friends who are all in the industry currently.
 
If you're starting out from scratch I wouldn't get hung up specifically on c#, there will be a number of courses that can explain fundamental concepts that are not language-specific.
Click to expand...
Speaking as a C# dev, I completely agree with this. There's some basic principles (data types, arrays, OOP etc) you need to understand first before you get stuck in to a language. In truth you should first decide what area you want to work in then choose a language based on that, not the other way around.
 
Another big vote for Pluralsight from me too.

Microsoft have some good written tutorials as well.

Previously when I’ve looked through some C# books, they’ve been quite well structured in terms of starting from the basics and building up.

I guess it depends a bit on how you learn best - some people can take videos in better, other people books, etc.

If there’s anything specific you want to learn / achieve / create, we can probably point you in a better direction to help achieve it.
 
Thanks for the recommendations all, will be looking into them all today.

As for having a direction/area I want to work, I dont really have a clue just yet. Not helpful I know but Ill try figure it out along the way.
 
The Starting Out With Visual C# by Tony Gaddis book is beginner friendly and assumes no previous programming experience, however Id try and get a used copy as they are way over priced.
 
I suggest youtube, have a look at freecodecamp. Pluralsight is alright, but it's probably not what you need. The MS course listed above is good. C# like any language is just a tool, you need to learn to understand what programming is, understanding logic flow.

When working professionally you are faced with a problem and you use the tools you have at hand to solve that problem, understanding the logic flow and changes you need to make and why is more important that the specific language you are using.

As mentioned learn Git for source control, you don't need much, though the more you know the easier it will be to undo the mistakes you make, though stackoverflow typically has an answer for the mistake you've made.

Go out and code, perhaps try interview questions? stupid things like code up an implementation of fizzbuzz. writing software is how you'll ultimately learn, so find projects, perhaps look for github repos with project lists?
 
RedTS said:
As mentioned learn Git for source control, you don't need much, though the more you know the easier it will be to undo the mistakes you make, though stackoverflow typically has an answer for the mistake you've made.
Click to expand...
Someone recommended Git Hub as a major focus for a programming career move - not only as a usefull tool but as a way of showing prospective employers that you are actually using your skills for development.
 
planty said:
Sorry, by background I meant whether you had an experience of programming previously and just want to learn c# or whether you're starting completely from scratch. By 'expanding your career options' I took that to mean you were already working in IT/software to some degree? Why are you choosing c#?

If you're starting out from scratch I wouldn't get hung up specifically on c#, there will be a number of courses that can explain fundamental concepts that are not language-specific.
Click to expand...

sorry to hijack the thread, but as someone who has never had an education on the basics or fundamental concepts is there a resource(s) you’d recommend?
 
antijoke said:
sorry to hijack the thread, but as someone who has never had an education on the basics or fundamental concepts is there a resource(s) you’d recommend?
Click to expand...

Is there anything you want to do in particular? I'm currently going through a learning process (coming from knowledge of SQL) of OOP and depending on what you want to do, there's better resources for one thing over anotehr IMO. If you want to make games for example, then a course for learing c# or python by making 2d games would be better than a course for MVC to build a website with a database underneath it.

If it's just groundwork concepts of class, methods and objects then any course thats based on a language will cover these.

Personally I'm doing a couple of Udemy courses that have things to "make" as projects, which is a better approach for the way I learn, which is by doing.
 
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