guys and gals,

I need some advice.

I'm want to move in to mainstream programming as I currently work with a bespoke programming language (6 yrs now). In the last 2 yrs or so I was asked to maintain their web site (because I learnt some of the stuff from uni 4 yrs earlier!) so I maintain it by reading up stuff from the net when I didnt know what to do e.g. html, vbscript, asp. In other words I can get by but very slowly and wouldnt know the internal workings or how to create one from the scratch.

Anyway - I'm going to be coming to the end of my 6 month contract in Jan and I wanted to do some courses but not sure about:

1. What courses I need to do
2. whether its worth it because I do not have experience.

Whenever I look at vacancies it always seems to be a mixture of languages that they are after!

any advice welcome!


thanks

Originally Posted by aRo

1. What courses I need to do
2. whether its worth it because I do not have experience.

Whenever I look at vacancies it always seems to be a mixture of languages that they are after!

well it depends on what you wanna do, software development or website development? both usually ask for some knowledge of SQL, dont bother doing a course in this, simply buy a reference book and do some trial and error (maybe using ms access or a copy of sql server).

Xml is now a good concept to learn, again dont bother with a course, online is best place, www.w3schools.com

Once u understand Xml, have a glimpse at XPath and XSLT

these are more for website development but also come in handy with many software applications.

now this is where things start to split.... software development ppl will ask for C++, Java or .NET. pick one, stick to it, get some books, do a course. once u got an idea, get some books and have a play about with the other languages (Java and C#.NET are very similar, and C++ is always a good learning point, so a course in this i would recommend).

on the other hand, website design requires knowledge usually of HTML and a server side scripting language such as ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP. (the first 2 being MS technologies using languages such visual basic and C#, JSP being java based and PHP is just PHP script).

MS have also introduced XmlSql which is SQL Server specific and allows you to create dynamic web sites using Xml.

now to decide which one you choose really depends on your likes and dislikes, if u like to instantly see results of your code and designing UI, do website development. if you like developing libraries and supplying third party components, do software development. or simply mix and match.

if you want any more info just ask

I like software development. My problem is that I studied Java at uni 6 yrs ago and like it BUT do not have industry experience and I know that since then newer stuff have come out. It seems now you have to know all other Java stuff like J2EE etc.

to be honest I wouldnt mind whichever path I choose (beggars cant be choosers!) , people tell me c# is the way to go but if I do courses wasnt sure if I needed the other stuff to go with c# and whether having passed a course is enough to get you the job.

Originally Posted by aRo

I like software development. My problem is that I studied Java at uni 6 yrs ago and like it BUT do not have industry experience and I know that since then newer stuff have come out. It seems now you have to know all other Java stuff like J2EE etc.

to be honest I wouldnt mind whichever path I choose (beggars cant be choosers!) , people tell me c# is the way to go but if I do courses wasnt sure if I needed the other stuff to go with c# and whether having passed a course is enough to get you the job.

doing a course is always a good step in getting the job, of course as with any job someone with experience in the field will more than likely beat you to the job but show that your worth the risk and companies will be more than willing to take you, especially software development, as like you said, its always enhancing, coming out of a recent course should mean you know the most up to date stuff.

ppl do say go to C#, even i say it myself. but u cant underestimate the usefulness and demand for C++ developers. maybe do a night course in both? C++ will be the harder to learn but give u the greater experience.