>OK - this is a couple of days late, but I couldn't resist. Quickest way to get up to speed in .Net?
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>PAIR PROGRAMMING/TEST DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
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>If you gain proficiency in unit testing, switching is a relative breeze. We took on a new project in .Net having never done more than "Hello World" on a webform. Yet we had total confidence in our abilities because of the power of both pairing and TDD.
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>Using pair programming and TDD, we cranked out a complete web app (and built a simple framework in the process) in 3 months (learning curve included). Pairing significantly sped up the learning process, and testing gave us the confidence to get things to work with absolutely no concern for how we got it to work. As we learned more, we refactored. Our tests broke, telling us exactly what we messed up. We fixed the problems, and moved on.
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>If you've never used TDD, you don't know what your missing. I'm pretty confident that we could learn to develop with similar ease in any technology which has a competent open source unit testing solution (NUNIT is awesome).
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>Even if you do not have someone to pair with, though, TDD alone can be a tremendous asset. I can't ever imagine writing a system again without it.
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>For a primer, read Kent Beck's "Test-Driven Development". He's the creator of Extreme Programming (which, granted, many find to be too extreme), and a leading apostle of TDD. Great book, and you'll learn some Python and Java in the process (no need to know anything about either to read the book).
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>Good luck,
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>David

David;

Ten years ago we used pair programming on a major Fox Pro application for hospitals around the country. It really improved the quality, features and reduced the development time. We accomplished things that we could not do on our own. Your suggestion seems outstanding to me! I just wish I could do it at work.

One caveat!

My brother in law Karl, was a General Contractor and told me, “Two men who work well together can do the work of four individuals! Two men who cannot work well together will create conflict and little will be accomplished!” In my experience as a programmer Karl’s advice applies just as well as it does in the Construction Industry. :)

Working with someone willing to learn and share is enjoyable. Being around someone who is egotistical, and “knows it all”, is very painful! I speak from experience having worked with "two pefect programmers over the years! :)

Discovery and teaching have always interested me. I am teaching those around me ASP.NET, VB.NET and C#, while learn the technology and develop a major project at the same time.

I have been to four Microsoft courses but they have been of little real value. Get your hands on the product and do something! Then you will learn! :)

By the way it is nice when your employer not only pays for technical classes but pays you a salary to learn and contribute!

Tom