How to Become a professional ?

[Pac_741]

Hi, i wish to know how can i become a professional developer, im really really interested in WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), is there some kind of school or career that focus on WPF ? ive been experiencing with WPF for about 3 weeks by now, i know Vb .net , c#, and im kinnda into database developing, so my question is:

1) How can i become a professional developer ?
2) What do i need to star working ? professionally

[dclamp]

Well to be a professional, i guess you would need to excel in what you want to be a pro in.

To start working, get the knowledge of the material, and look for job offers.

[Hack]

Although it sounds self evident, to become a professional, you need to get hired.

If I were looking to hire someone with a WPF background, would your current resume catch my eye?

Also, don't expect anything, at this point, more then an entry level position.

[RhinoBull]

A "professional" is someone who gets paid for what he/she does so you must have a job.
Are you ready to be employed (or perhaps self empolyed) ? You know you won't have as much free time anymore...

[RobDog888]

A "professional" is someone who gets paid for what he/she does so you must have a job.
Are you ready to be employed (or perhaps self empolyed) ? You know you won't have as much free time anymore...

Agreed!

You will definately want to expand your toolbox and not just focus on WPF because its only a very very small area of .NET. There are really no specific jobs in WPF but there are many in .NET

[alex_read]

In the UK, I seemed to get into development in rather a set path - a junior developer for maybe 2-3 years, a couple of developer/programmer jobs then analyst developer and finally senior developer, though in reality my employed position wasn't meant to read that (I was given a fancy title when I went to client's sites, so that's what went onto the CV)!

I'd advise exactly the same route to become "professional" - working under 1 or a series of mentors, learning their practices but constantly reading and trying to answer more and more questions on sites like this are invaluable.

On the WPF side, have you seen the new Expressions programs they have? From using these, hearing of XAML and having worked with the smartphone and it's SDK, it'd seem the route MS are taking more and more is to separate programming (left to developers) to UI creation (left to graphic designers). In my humble opinion, in the future WPF and general UI creation will be left to artists more if MS has their way.

[RobDog888]

Yea, I seen xaml (zahm-al) and only some of Blend. If GUI creation is separated it wont be a bad thing as who in their rightmind would call thmselves a programmer if all they did was develop GUIs

[alex_read]

Well that's my opinion anyhow - I've been wrong once or twice in the past

who in their rightmind would call thmselves a programmer if all they did was develop GUIs

Used to be mad keen on graphic design at school and did ok at it, sadly when I learnt programming and tried to think up as many designs for UI's I just seemed to draw blanks and it was like I was never taught it at all - spot on with that above, I've never met a person who do do both really well (yet)

[Pac_741]

actually i do both things UI design and Coding, its not that dificult well its not dificult for me beacuse i havent get into real coding i just code simple stuff, well not that simple i just havent created a programm that takes advantages of all the things i know, in the UI desing field i use Expression Software its really easy to use, you have to have a good eye, an artistic eye, if you have that youll probably succes in UI design.

[Pac_741]

lets say i want to study in a college or a university for getting certificates so i can get a job easily but im not sure what carrer i have to study, how can i know what carrer its the right for me?

[RhinoBull]

... how can i know what carrer its the right for me?

I'm afraid there is no definite answer to your question.
What is it that you like doing most? If you are not yet decided then maybe you need to wait for a bit longer
because the worst that you can do for yourself is go study for 4-5 years on a subject that you will eventually hate.
You don't want to come to work and think that you really hate what you do for living - that will drive you nuts (I've seen many people like that and it's not pretty).
[not to mention it will cost you]

[RobDog888]

lets say i want to study in a college or a university for getting certificates so i can get a job easily but im not sure what carrer i have to study, how can i know what carrer its the right for me?

If you are having a had time deciding then you can take an Aptitude test which measures your skills and desires to suggest potential fields as a career.

[MonkOFox]

I'm guessing you want to program or be in some kinda of computer related enviroment while working.

I'm graduating next semester with a computer science degree.

It's pretty cool, to me(maybe with all degress), they will never teach you everything you need know (enough to get certified in anything). You just learn enough and get that paper to get your foot in the door.

My experience has been get a job with entry level pay and then you learn as you work. The more experienced you get and more efficient and profficient at doing you job/projects the more money you make.

The only reason I'm interested in getting ms certs is because all we use at work is .NET for web and Desktop apps.

If I had another chance to start my degree again,
I'd probably go somewhere where they offer Software Engineering degrees.

I would think you'd get a more programming intensive experience while completing that degree.

Justin Fox

[Pac_741]

Thanks to all

[Hack]

Keep in touch and lets us know how you are coming along.

[Cybis]

It's pretty cool, to me(maybe with all degress), they will never teach you everything you need know (enough to get certified in anything). You just learn enough and get that paper to get your foot in the door.

I knew many students who treated their CS studies as nothing more than a program to earn some piece of paper that gets them a job. I feel that they really missed out. Some only wanted to learn the skills that companies wanted right away (e.g., how to build a website in ASP.NET) and believed that studying algorithms analysis or computer architecture - areas that any good CS program would cover extensively - was pointless. The field of computer science can advance without ASP.NET, but it wouldn't get anywhere if universities never provided the theoretical foundation that, sadly, it seems too few people care about.