As a .NET beginner, what should I learn and where can I find open source projects?

Question

I'm beginner programmer in the amazing world named ".Net".

I've a lot of questions

• well, what I should learn C# or Vb.net
• What's the best blogs which talk about .Net technology and Open source projects
• Where can I find good tutorials, free books and ideas of projects
• how can I progress in ".Net"
• please, share your knowledge , your OPML of your favorite blogs or web sites about ".Net "

I'm waiting your advices, opinions, etc.

Answer 1

As far as which language you should learn, well what are your experiences thus far? I prefer C# over VB.NET. Though, eventually, you should be able to program in VB.NET even if you say with C# as your primary language (the same is true vice versa for VB.NET). You might want to check the syntax of each language and see which you prefer just by first glance. You will probably find that whenever code examples are provided for .NET and both languages aren't present, typically the examples are in C#. This is not a big deal though. I find C# (and similar languages) to be less verbose but that is a preference. Here are some good resources. I highly recommend the LearnVisualStudio.NET videos; start with the beginner tutorials and advance to more advanced topics.

Some great resources include:

http://www.dotnetrocks.com (podcast) http://www.se-radio.net (general software engineering podcast) http://www.haacked.com (Phil Haack's blog) http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/ (Scott Guthrie's blog)

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/551315/which-c-net-blogs-do-you-read (previous question with a good list of blogs)

http://www.learnvisualstudio.net (good place to find video courses, cheap)

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/54423/best-net-podcasts (previous question) http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1644/what-good-technology-podcasts-are-out-there (more podcasts)

Open Source projects:

http://www.codeplex.com is great for Open Source .NET projects.

Also:

http://csharp-source.net/ (not bad, some projects are old and not maintained)

http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/trove%5Flist.php?form%5Fcat=271 C# as SourceForge

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13765/open-source-c-opportunities (previous question with good infor)

Answer 2

Also check http://www.codeproject.com/

Answer 3

I'd start with Fabulous Adventures In Coding, which is a great blog by one of the people who actually work on C#. Then i'd also take a look at CodeProject and MSDN. Finally, you can't forget Joel Spolsky's web site!

For Regexes, look no further than here. Cosmos is a neat project though a little heavy for beginners, and DevExpress has the best VS addin this side of the earth! Personally, i don't like ReSharper but plenty of other people do.

(marking it CW so anyone can contribute)

Answer 4

Excellent suggestions so far. Another site to always keep in mind for open source code is Google Code. Plus Google has excellent search features for finding just about anything in their code base.

Answer 5

Things i am following

http://stackoverflow.com/

http://www.codeplex.com/

http://msdn.microsoft.com/hi-in/default.aspx

Answer 6

You can find a Comparison of C# vs VB.NET here

Also this Article in CodeProject describes the complete differences between C# and VB.NET. You will get large number of opensource projects from CodeProject

You can find an exiting project TextPad, which will help you to learn more in C#

Answer 7

If you are interested in web development, check http://www.asp.net.

Also, checkout MSDN Magazine, 4 Guys From Rolla, and the Linq Project.

Answer 8

Hi! I also had these question in my mind when I started learning .NET. I prefer C# over VB. But then its purely a personal choice. In my view start with a nice book like Beginning Microsoft Visual C# 2008 or Head First C#. And the online source which I find very useful MSDN.

Answer 9

SO Question: Open Source C# Projects That Have High Code Quality?

Answer 10

As to your question whether to learn VB.NET or C#... Well, there are personal preferences and there are realities.

If you want to make a living out of this, keep in mind that relatively and generally speaking c# will make you more employable.

Example. As of right now, Dice lists 4421 matches for c# versus 1131 for vb.net.

Answer 11

I can recommend "Beginning ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008: From Novice to Professional" from Mathew MacDonald. It does not rely on deep C# knowledge and even for someone who knows C# it's interesting to read. I'm almost half through, and it is really nice to read.

Don't be shocked by the almost 1000 pages - lots of code listings and pictures are inside.

I think there is even a VB.NET edition, but I prefer C# - and I still think that this is the language Microsoft puts more focus on.

Answer 12

For GDI (graphics) programming in C# / VB.Net, look at the "Beginners guide to GDI+" section at bobpowell.net.

I have worked through many of the advanced topics, and they're very well written and give great examples.