Hi.
If I want to become a professional web developer with ASP.NET. What do I need to learn? What I know is that I have to learn ASP.NET + C#. Is there anything else? What about databases? And should I learn SQL (Structured Query Language)?
To become a professional asp.net developer you need to learn how Asp.Net (and as a matter of fact how CLR) works: pipeline, modules, handlers. Of course you should know how to work with both Web Forms and Ap.net MVC beyond drangādrop level (for web forms).
Design Patterns and TDD are a must to be familiar with, so your web application is properly layered and not turned into a spaghetti mess. Of course, you should know more details about C# and how the CLR works, especially the GC.
In a nutshell you need EXPERIENCE. So start practising and donāt be satisfied developing the same type of web site, especially if itās a very simple CRUD application.
SQL is good to know since you will use databases. In applications though you might use ORMās like EF or NHibernate which abstracts db access but it will help to know proper sql and some info about how databases work.
Microsoft is working very hard to make it easier for developers who are new to the Microsoft stack. I am collecting some Resources, Tools and bits of Advice new (and existing) developers may find useful:
[ASP.NET Frameworks]
.NET Framework & C# + ASP.NET development via:
- ASP.NET Web Forms: the āoriginalā, ASP.NET way. Better than ASP, but a big shift for many.
- ASP.NET Web Pages: a new, more elegant option which works well for new developers, traditional web developers too.
- ASP.NET MVC: a powerful, popular design pattern and ASP.NET framework (but not the only one) suitable for large projects (e.g. stackoverflow.com)
[Tools]
- ASP.NET Web Pages (http://www.asp.net/web-pages)
- Microsoft WebMatrix (http://www.microsoft.com/web/webmatrix/ )
- LINQPad (http://linqpad.net)
- Visual Web Developer & Visual C# Express Editions (http://www.microsoft.com/express/ )
- Visual Studio (60 day trial)
- Mercurial (http://mercurial.selenic.com/) for Source Control
- BitBucket (https://bitbucket.org/) for free private hosted Mercurial Repositories
- Git and GitHub (https://github.com/) are popular Mercurial alternative, but are less friendly on Windows, and private repos on GitHub are not free.
[Blogs]
- Scott Hanselmanās Blog (http://www.hanselman.com/blog/)
- Scott Guthrieās Blog: (http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/)
- Phil Haackās Blog: (http://haacked.com/)
- Jon Skeetās Blog (https://msmvps.com/blogs/jon_skeet/)
[Books]
- C# in Depth, Second Edition by Jon Skeet (http://www.manning.com/skeet2/)
Because I feel this is such an important subject Iāll be continuing to expand this post here and will update/edit this post for as long as it will allow me (PS: Dear Sitepoint, can we please be allowed to make edits for an extended, or preferably unlimited, period after weāve posted? I donāt remember it being limited back in the āgood old daysā). Iāll also be continuing with further updates here (Resources, Tools & Advice for .NET Developers).