How to get started in web development


I’ve been approached by 2 different people in the last week looking for ideas on a new career. Both showed interest in web development, and wanted my insight into the .NET world.

I’ve written before about how I got started, but a lot has changed since I entered the field. The tools and resources available are incredible. With a good work ethic and a little direction, there’s really no reason a properly motivated individual can’t become a successful developer.

While short on time in both instances, I followed up with an email. The same email. To both seekers. I figured both were looking for the same information. On that note, I thought others out there might benefit from the thoughts I shared. Here is that email:

Sign up for Visual Studio Dev Essentials:
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-dev-essentials-vs.aspx

Through Dev Essentials:
Download Visual Studio Code (Mac) or Visual Studio Community (Windows)
Signup for 3-months of Pluralsight

Learn, in this order:
C#
MVC
API
Javascript
Angular 1.5
SQL Server
Entity Framework

Good training:
http://www.asp.net/mvc
http://www.asp.net/mvc/overview/getting-started/introduction/getting-started
https://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Getting-Started-with-91a65652
http://www.asp.net/web-api
https://live.asp.net/

Pluralsight authors I like:
Cory House
Deborah Kurata
Douglas Crockford
Jesse Liberty
John Papa
John Sonmez
Jon Skeet
Julie Lerman
Misko Hevery
Pinal Dave
Rob Conery
Robert Bogue
Samidip Basu
Scott Allen
Scott Hanselman
Shawn Wildermuth
Steve Smith

Join a user group:
http://www.meetup.com/

There’s a new version of .NET coming out at the end of the month. It’s a complete rewrite and companies will be slow to adopt. Be aware, but no need to devote effort yet. Get solid on the others first.

Things I value that will make you a better developer:
TDD – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development
SOLID Principles – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOLID_(object-oriented_design)
Clean Code – https://cleancoders.com/ 

My presentations:
https://github.com/ovation22

 

I’m wondering what others might have said. What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the industry? What technologies would you recommend?

 


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