another learning thread....c# advice please :)

Hi Guys,

Looking for some advice really from developing professionals, I was in a sales apprenticeship role last year up until around december however it was software development that I was interested in. I was 18 at the time and whilst there I emailed/spoke with some of the developers there and they had vast amounts of praise for C# (some liked VB and said it was easier?)

I left in december planning to learn c# or to go on a course however the courses I looked at near me (based in manchester england) didn't begin until september of this year and cost a LOT due to me turning 19 in March (just gone).

I began learning however looked into other languages such as html, JS and CSS for web design, c++ for gaming, python, I was learning bits of everything which was the wrong way to go about it.

I'm back in work now in an IT role however still not a development role which is what I want to do but I still plan on learning c# in my own spare time (if this is possible). I'm thinking of starting with "head first c#"...is that a good way to start? Is it possible to learn?

Initially I planned on getting an apprenticeship in software development so I could learn with senior professionals on the job however there were none about so had to get back into work as you can imagine! (I didn't have the knowledge/experience for a junior developer role either)

I still want to do software development as a career but I'm unsure of the best path. is starting with head first c# the right way to go about it?

Thanks
Aaron

Don't get caught up on the language. Languages are just tools and you pick the right one for the job. Writing software is about algorithms and programming concepts (such as functions, loops, conditionals, variables, etc.) that is why an experienced developer can pick up a new language in a short amount of time. Once you understand the concepts, the rest is just just syntax and API.

C# is certainly a popular language, while I haven't read that book you can certainly try it out. If you are learning on your own you should pick a project to do, some fairly small task that you want to write a program to accomplish. That will give you something to work towards.