Why learn .NET now when Whidbey is on its way?

[Ken Cooper]

If you had a choice to go on a training course now to learn .NET basics
(VB.NET or C#, ASP.NET, Windows Forms) would you take it?

I have read that Whidbey is another revolutionary step and aims to
dramatically reduce the amount of code you write. So why go through the pain
and expense now when you'll have to relearn everything the Whidbey way later
this year?

What do you think?

Ken

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

If you had a choice to go on a training course now to learn .NET basics
(VB.NET or C#, ASP.NET, Windows Forms) would you take it?

If I didn't already know them, yes.

I have read that Whidbey is another revolutionary step and aims to
dramatically reduce the amount of code you write. So why go through the pain
and expense now when you'll have to relearn everything the Whidbey way later
this year?

What do you think?

I think it's easier to learn new stuff when you have a firm grasp of
the existing technology. Whidbey may dramatically reduce the amount of
code you write for *some* things, but not all. Furthermore, I suspect a
lot of the Whidbey-specific books which come out later in the year will
teach the new features by describing the differences between them and
the old features, so it'll be a lot easier to learn Whidbey if you know
..NET now.

 

[Cor]

Hi Ken,

Sorry, but this has been in computing always been the most stuppid thinking.

It would be a wonder or a natural disaster if there will be no new version
after Whidbey again.

Waiting on a new version has always been with computing the most stuppid
thing someone can do.

Better in my opinion is even not think on it until the final version is
released. There can always be planned function which will not be implemented
or implemented in another way than planned.

Just my thought,

Cor

 

[William Ryan eMVP]

I'm with Jon and Cor. Vb6 and C++ were very very different from VB.NET but
it knowing them certainly helped me learn .NET. Many examples authors use
reference the differences between previous versions and current ones.

Moreover, I would agree that Whidbey is a evolutionary step but many things
are very similar if not identical. I've picked up a few books on the new
changes and have been able to work through the examples and write my own
fairly easily. I wouldn't be able to do that without understanding .NET
First.

And it's going to be a while before Whidbey is out. Cor's point about not
holding off to learn new things is right on here and I can just about
guarantee you that if you got training now in VS.NET, or studied hard and
learned it on your own (ideall, do both), you'll be much farther ahead one,
three, five etc months after whidbey comes out than you will be if you held
off and just got training in it. And I don't think I'm going out on a limb
when I say that you'll be much farther along if you start now.

HTH,

Bill

 

[Sam Gentile [MVP - C#/.NET]]

Also agreed here. Learn the basics now

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[Doug Tien]

Ken,

IMHO if you are planning to migrate to .NET within the next year, then start
now. Most of the stuff you learn will still apply when Whidbey is released.
If you'll still be programming in your current language and dev platform
until Whidbey is released, then I would hold off assuming you'll be so busy
with your current stuff that anything you learn now may not sink in and be
forgotten by then (maybe that's just me, I can't retain anything for more
than a month).

Doug

 

[Guest]

Because Microsoft announced that Whidbey won't ship until 1st half of 2005,
which means June if we're lucky, and it could even slip beyond that.

Of course, by the time it ships, you won't want to go to Whidbey because
they'll already be promoting the next revolutionary version beyond that
one....

J