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I taught myself to program some 30 years ago and tried to keep up with the evolution of C all the way to C# and WPF. However, I always felt that there were gaps in my knowledge because I was never involved in a formal programming course. So a fortnight ago I came across an intermediate level Microsoft C# programming course offered on-line by edX. I promptly enrolled and finished the course in about 10 days of intensive work. I suppose I already knew some 80% of the content, but the rest filled quite a few gaps in my C# knowledge.
I feel my knowledge is more comprehensive and to boot I got a nice Microsoft certificate to hang in our study!
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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I'm in the same boat. Self-taught. Have looked for some books to help fill in gaps but haven't found any. It's hard to tell if they are too simple or what I need.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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The course used the book: Microsoft Visual C# 2013 by John Sharp. It is available from Amazon and is stated to be for "Intermediate level". You can also take a look at: C# 6.0 and the .NET 4.6 Framework by Troelsen and Japikse that is published by Apress. I haven't read it yet, but it seems very impressive.
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Thanks, I'll take a look. 
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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If you only buy one book, I would recommend the one by Troelsen & Japikse.
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Good job on getting through the course; self-improvement is a good attribute to retain.
That being said.. courses have always been a dissapointment for me.
I taught myself 18 years ago: started with C++, got a basic grasp on it in about 2 years.
To get a better understanding, I did 4 years of University (mostly for theoretical data structures), 4 years of engineering (for low-level hardware communication), and one year applied sciences (line-of-business applications).. done it all.
My conclusion so far is that most courses are of dubious value.
The various concepts they teach are.. mm.. sub-optimal for real world scenario's.
In the real world, it's all about the cost of the actual code. Both in terms of project length and complexity to verify / maintain the result.
Translated to concepts, courses ignore the following essential skills:
- figuring out who has already done your job
- how to glue bits together with easy to understand and reliable C# language concepts
- refactoring for ease of maintenance / minimal LoC
(minimal LoC is often synonymous to ease of maintenance, but not always; overly dense lambda's or LINQ queries come to mind here)
- code etiquette; the amount of projects with obtuse naming schemes is too damn high! rsObtuseAF_Flg = true
(..if your naming scheme has more then 3 variations, please refactor before you get hit by a bus)
The most usefull skill I've learned in various courses:
I understand the entire stack. I can pretty much deploy anything anywhere.
(my current favorite stack is URCT with C++ redist and mono to get .NET 4.6 on legacy Windows devices)
The least usefull skill I've learned in various courses:
How to design time-efficient algorithms.
Never do this, they're just not worth it; regular mortals are terrible at maintaining somewhat complex algorithms.
If you have to, always make stupidly easy algorithms, so average people have a good chance of succesfully maintaining your code 10 years from now.
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Programming was one thing, but there were a couple of things I learned that carried me this far, and continue to do so:
1) Ed Yourdan's Structured Analysis and Design (taught by Tom DeMarco)
2) SAP Business Process Engineering; specifically Event Driven Process Chain (EPC) diagramming.
No other way could I deliver a system of significant size.
(Still think UML is / was more of a "thought" exercise with limited practical application; i.e. no "data flows").
"(I) am amazed to see myself here rather than there ... now rather than then".
― Blaise Pascal
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Schwarzenegger is to play the lead in a new film about 18th century musicians. There'll be a sequel – you know he’ll be Bach.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I think I hear someone rotating in his grave - at about 20000 rpm.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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Decomposing Composers Lyrics by Monty Python
They're decomposing composers.
There's nothing much anyone can do.
You can still hear Beethoven,
But Beethoven cannot hear you.
-- Monty Python
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.
--Winston Churchill
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I wonder if he'll be able to Handel it.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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I cannot totally recall...
...did he make terminator not?
... such stuff as dreams are made on
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There could be multiple sequels, in which case he'll be Offenbach
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One of these days I will teach you how to pronounce these names and then you might try to butcher only your own language. 
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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This news might send some people into a fugue.
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.
--Winston Churchill
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Don't Strauss over it - just make a Liszt of possible sequels.
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. ~ Ronald Reagan
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I'd like to readers to note that that was clef-er.
You coda come up with something deeper Beethoven you keep it simple.
Also, I'm a bit presto for time.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Would you care to meet up at Fort Issimo to discuss the matter?
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Has he been Haydn his love for classical music?
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Aria going to see it in the theater, or wait for the DVD and watch it in D-flat?
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP.
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I'd put you all on the RACK if I was ManINov ...
women don't come with a manual...
and wouldn't show it to men if they did...
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Hello all,
How would you ensure the backupp hdd usb port wouldn't be damaged after plugging and unplugging it every week?
I'm worried about doing that operation each week and having loosen usb ports at the end...
Thank you!
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E.g. a short Extension cable which you "never" unplug in in case it is broken you can replace it
modified 19-Jan-21 21:04pm.
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I'm using a cheap USB-hub for the memory-sticks. An extension cord would work equally well.
This way you're moving the wear from the original slot, to the slot of the hub or the extension-cable, and those are cheap to replace. For the hd itself; it should come with its own replacable cable. No, you don't unplug that each week.
Depending on the location of the backup, you could consider a physical switch to "unplug" instead of actually unplugging.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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