How to Learn a language/platform

Introduction

I see this question posted a lot by rookie developers in the CodeProject Lounge:

"What's the best way to learn [this language] or [that platform]?"

The answer I always give is to find an application that does something interesting to you, and try to duplicate its appearance and functionality with the language/platform with which you want to become familiar.  It would be optimal if you were actually filling a real need, but simply having interest in the application in question should be enough for a semi-motivated developer.

As an example, I recently posted this article series - SQLXAgent - Jobs for SQL Express -, where I essentially dupicated a feature found in SQL Server that is not included in SQL Server Express - namely, the use of agents.  In this application, I tried to adhere to the look and feel of the job Properties form as much as I could (especially with regards to the scheduling configuration), while establishing only the parts of the SQL Server implementation that I needed for the task at hand. I created a solution that contained a couple of WPF desktop applications, a console application, a Windows service, and a number of DLL assemblies.

I've been a developer for over 35 years, and I'm still learning new stuff (and relearning old stuff), so that part of development never really ends. This application was no different. I wasn't looking to learn bout a new lanuguage or platform, but  still managed to learn/relearn some stuff along the way.

- I found out about System.Reactive and learned how to bend it to my will.

- I learned how to load specific DLLs manually

- I relearned how to manage a Windows service from an external application.

History

• 02 Oct 2017 - Initial publication