The Transition of a Classic ASP Developer to .NET

2/10/2009 8:19:02 AM

I am not necessarily a .NET newbie. I dabble with it here and there, but since I play with it seldomly, everytime I jump in the code, I can not avoid the feeling like I am a newbie. Recently, my workload consists more of .NET development, and my .NET toolbelt is starting to hold new tools. By no means am I boasting on my .NET know-how, but I am quickly learning that a developer can do nearly anything he or she may desire given the developer knows what method has to be overridden.

In this area, I am infatuated with learning as much as possible to become more well-rounded. Nearly every spare moment of mine I try to take in as much as possible. I find myself researching one thing, but, along the way, I digress, and I am suddenly researching another. At the end of my research session, my browser can have ten tabs open with each tab covering a separate topic. The first tab may start off looking into user controls, and the last tab may cover my delving into regular expressions. There's just so much with .NET that I can easily overwhelm myself.

For me, the biggest obstacle I am trying to overcome is not writing in C# or VB.NET. My prior experience in C++ and many of the BASIC (VB, ASP/VBScript, Q-BASIC, GW-BASIC) languages definitely aid in my transition into the .NET languages. Overall, it has been the .NET Framework that gives me the most trouble. I suppose this holds true for many others as well. Really, how can someone know what it all holds? Good Lord, there's just so much!

My transition is not complete, and the only way that I am going to get a firmer grasp on things is with real world experience. The Web and trial-and-error (mostly error) are my biggest tutors right now. Another thing that helps is having knowledgeable peers. I am thankful that I have people surrounding me that can give me a definitive answer to my questions.

In my recent quest to become a full-fledged .NET developer, I am quickly learning what my likes and dislikes are. Without going into any details this is my quick list:
Like/love:

MVC
The Gridview control*
Code behind
The List object
ViewState

Dislike/hate:

To do something out of the "norm," you have to bend over backwards to override and/or extend something.
The GridView control*
Web.config: I suppose to others that it is intuitive that certain settings can be set and, VOILA, magic happens.

*Love/Hate relationship

Finally, from one .NET developer to another, whether a self-proclaimed expert or newbie yourself, I am open to suggestions and/or references to give this developer an edge into becoming the next .NET expert.

Posted by: Jason Alban | Submit comment | Tell a friend

Categories: .NET | Software Development

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