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Single Step Debugger17-Jan-23 12:17

17-Jan-23 12:17

Based on your experience with SQL Server and C# I would suggest you stay within the Microsoft ecosystem. Namely - asp.net core. You can focus on Blazor because it doesn't require JavaScript. You will also need some accompanying stuff like CSS and HTML, but you probably already know that. And a piece of advice - don't buy the cheapest books on any of these subjects. They are cheap for a reason.

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MikeCO1018-Jan-23 3:32

18-Jan-23 3:32

I think this is really a great answer, building on the existing skillset in the question.

Slow Eddie18-Jan-23 4:36

18-Jan-23 4:36

could you recommend some that are not "cheap"?

Single Step Debugger18-Jan-23 6:21

18-Jan-23 6:21

I would stick with the big publishers like "Apress", "Murach" etc. and stay clear from self-published authors, college professors (especially those), pulp fiction like O'Reilly or Microsoft certification classes. Any professional book under 30 bucks is rather suspicious.

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peterkm17-Jan-23 14:03

peterkm

17-Jan-23 14:03

I think that when planning skills upgrade in software development, it is also necessary to include skills related to Git, Github, Bitbucket and some basic use of Jira. Of course "it depends" Smile | :)

, in ecosystems which I experienced this was "a baseline" and I expect these to be quite common ...

obermd17-Jan-23 16:35

obermd

17-Jan-23 16:35

Don't forget soft skills such as conflict resolution and project and/or time management. Employers are always looking for these types of skills.

megaadam18-Jan-23 0:02

megaadam

18-Jan-23 0:02

obermd wrote:
conflict resolution

Elephanting overrated! Mad | :mad:

"If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going"

Single Step Debugger18-Jan-23 6:27

18-Jan-23 6:27

Those and anger management classes. Laugh | :laugh:

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Southmountain17-Jan-23 19:13

Southmountain

17-Jan-23 19:13

become a scrum master and change career track to a project manager...

diligent hands rule....

megaadam17-Jan-23 23:49

megaadam

17-Jan-23 23:49

I would suggest you to leave your comfort zone and step away from the Microsoft backyard... There is so much more out there. Pick one!
For server side programming Golang, Python and C++
For Web/Client: NodeJS
For Client desktop For example: C++/Qt
For Client, apps: Kotlin

"If we don't change direction, we'll end up where we're going"

trønderen18-Jan-23 1:10

trønderen

18-Jan-23 1:10

megaadam wrote:
For server side programming Golang, Python and C++
For Web/Client: NodeJS

Yes, I guess "leaving your comfort zone" is an appropriate description.

MikeCO1018-Jan-23 3:37

18-Jan-23 3:37

When it comes to comfort zone, that's like going from being a passenger on a plane to standing on the wing, lol.

Single Step Debugger18-Jan-23 4:41

18-Jan-23 4:41

IMHO jumping on C++ with just VB/C# background will be painful and not verry productive. This is not some new language, it's a different mindset. Unless you are in your early 20, I wouldn't recommend that.

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trønderen18-Jan-23 10:23

trønderen

18-Jan-23 10:23

Are you implying that people past their early 20s are incapable of handling ~~assembler code~~ C/C++?

Single Step Debugger18-Jan-23 10:59

18-Jan-23 10:59

To make such major transition you need a plenty of "buffer" time. Time that you don't have if you do this for a living. And unless you're doing something trivial like MFC you need accompanying knowledge of computer architecture (as a bare minimum), embedded systems, or electronics, or controllers or cryptography etc.. What are you using your C++ for?

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MikeCO1020-Jan-23 3:21

20-Jan-23 3:21

Yep. Depends if you are taking blood pressure medication. And if you are not, you will be Laugh | :laugh:

maze318-Jan-23 1:37

maze3

18-Jan-23 1:37

Based on existing skills, expand

some others pointed out, so like connecting with cloud services. Azure or Amazon

if like database work, then Linq (method or query syntax) and database as code stuff (code first) in either C# (i assume VP.Net has same support)

and then connecting and interacting with the various cloud storage solutions: Blob, Cosmos (if not renamed this week D'Oh! | :doh:

), and Tables (I like the Tables for small flexible working storage)

And then C# 11, and the very quick jumps of major versions in c#6 was 2015, now is c# 11. Syntactic sugar, some I am a bit nope, but some like returned named tuples, instead of creating yet another object or returning Item1,Item2

Figure out the WHAT not the HOW, what do you want to make, then look up what languages or features can help make. If an employer is demanding language X, but you can comfortably say well this language is better suited, better supported, and longer lasting, and I can start working on it today, or sure, take risk on that which young dev moves company in 6 months, and then you stuck hiring someone at x2 because no one wants to to that language.

Slow Eddie18-Jan-23 4:41

18-Jan-23 4:41

That is a major part on my problem. I need a job soon. and all of the languages "du jour" seem to be changing every day.
Sigh | :sigh:

BernardIE531718-Jan-23 2:17

BernardIE5317

18-Jan-23 2:17

I can not offer assistance re/ your concern but may I please inquire as you are a Microsoft employee would you happen to know the number of engineers assigned to the development of Visual Studio . This is something I have wondered about for some time . Thank You Kindly - Best

Slow Eddie18-Jan-23 4:42

18-Jan-23 4:42

Not an employee, been using their products. I'd like to know that myself.

MikeCO1018-Jan-23 3:37

18-Jan-23 3:37

Edward,
The way you asked the question gets you a lot of answers that reflect the experience of the responders. Skills are only a part of the equation, and I don't think it's of value for any of us to just spew out a list of the latest or greatest skills. The industry is large enough so you can find 'demand' with a widely varied skill set. As someone said, there are really good Cobol jobs that are in demand due to the scarcity of Cobol programmers.

What I'd ask of you is:
What is your work experience at this point? If you've been around since GWB, you're not starting out in your career.
What do you want to do? Small team, large team, challenging, comfortable, etc. Are you looking to be a DBA, Front end, or back end programmer? Desktop, web, phone apps?
'Very good with SQLs' - on a CRUD level or design and interdependency level? It's a relatively easy jump to Postgres or MySQL but again, what are your goals in that case?
'Moderate acquaintances with C#/VB.net'. With the vastness of .net languages, that's not telling me a lot.

Industry-wise, my thoughts are that Web/Cloud is the way to go. I'd forget AI and Web 3.0. IoT and VR are promising but those could be really tough skills to take on, depending on your experience.

Microsoft: "Where do you want to go today?"

Slow Eddie18-Jan-23 4:55

18-Jan-23 4:55

I want any job that I can make a living off of.

Quote:
'Very good with SQLs' - on a CRUD level or design and interdependency level?

All of the above.

Quote:
Moderate acquaintances with C#/VB.net'. With the vastness of .net languages, that's not telling me a lot.

I have worked mainly in VB6 (oh the horror) doing Business Accounting programming. I have been converting my programs from VB6 to C# and, OOP but everything seems to have gone to the Web.

I am sorry for not being more specific. I do appreciate your answer. As far as VB.net goes I feel like I can do about 80%.

MikeCO1020-Jan-23 3:10

20-Jan-23 3:10

No horror in working VB6; there really is still a big codebase out there in VB6.

As someone else mentioned - sorry forgot who, looking at asp.net is something logical since you can leverage your existing abilities in VB/C#. Tack on HTML5/CSS, which are pretty quick learns for someone with decent programming background. The Web has really become the place to be and many desktop apps are moving some or all functionality to web-based. While I can still spin a much deeper interface in VB/C# desktop; if there is a web-side to the app we're building and maintaining two code bases. It's somewhat less seen in the pro accounting world, but it's there in POS modules, remote employee functions, etc.

Would I venture into the *nix world with some of the other languages? Probably not for a paycheck, it's a leap. Helpful to have some experience with Postgres and MySQL, but they're just DBs, yeah different than MS DBs but still much the same and a quick learn.

MikeCO1020-Jan-23 4:07

20-Jan-23 4:07

I'd also add that taking a look at W3Schools Online Web Tutorials[^] can be a fun little exercise. It tends to be really basic level stuff, but you can take a look at a lot of varied technologies to see if any catch your eye. Then you can do research from there.