Hi, John,

These are great points - the more of these, the better. I'd like to make a few comments.

1. Language is irrelevent when at the ground-level. Walk away from the C# versus VB argument. From the VFP perspective, VB.NET is easier to understand and 99% as functional. What you'll find as you get more proficient is that it's just as easier to understand or code in either. So focus on VB.Net. Once you understand VB code without a reference manual, C# will make sense and you'll find yourself pretty much equally adept at either.

In the abstract, I don't disagree - but unless someone has a specific business requirement to learn either VB or C#, I'd have to say it makes more sense to initially focus on C#. More companies are looking for C# talent than VB talent. I work for a training company that has FAR more demand for C# than VB. Around the 2005 period, there was a belief in the VB world that VB would start to gain ground. I think the reverse has happened. On a personal level, I am almost ambivalent on language these days - but many companies out there prefer C#.

I agree with points 2, 3, and 4 (get foundational literature, get a buddy, and ignore the bleeding edge).

I absolutely agree with #5 - I tell people all the time to take a small piece of an existing app, and try to go about rebuilding it in .NET. And then take another small piece...and what you'll find is that the 2nd time around, you'll spot things you didn't do right the first time....and then before you know it, you start to pick up on little patterns (which I believe was part of your point 6).

(And while this statement may be controversial, I tell newbies not to go racing to the bookstore to buy design pattern books YET....I tell them that it's better to discover the need for the patterns first)

I couldn't agree more on #7....and don't get me started on AdventureWorks :)
The difficulty with #7 is how to discern beween the wheat and the chaffe. That's why I bust on people for not demonstrating a level of credibility when they post content. While this isn't the only example out there, I often use the example of the URL from an ASP.NET guy with the title, "Typed DataSets are the horrible and should be banned" (or words very close to that). Many examples out there don't work, or are so heavily prejudiced that they skew the innocent reader.

And Amen on #8 and #9....and let me add to #9 that sometimes, the simplest/best approaches are indistinguishable from common sense :)

Great post, great stuff....