Greetings all! I'm returning to coding (VB) after many years :)

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Hello,

After a couple of different jobs had me bounce between programming, Sharepoint, and server administration, I have been asked to assume a development position again.

I haven't coded from scratch since framework 2.0 and in doing research on how to bring myself up to speed I stumbled upon these forums. I am very much interested in getting back into coding and learning about the newest framework abilities, specifically using LINQ and parallel processing.

I will mainly be using VB and winforms and I had considered going down the path of obtaining a MCTS and then potentially working up the certification ladder.

I was thinking about jumping into framework 4.0 and certification 70-511, or maybe 70-516, but I don't want to waste time or money if there might be better options to begin with, hence my research .

Before I end up writing a book, I'll stop here

 

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Hey and welcome to CF!

I'm currently in the process of doing the 70-515, which is the equivalent to 70-511 but for the web, and so far I have found it very useful. I'm hoping to do the 70-516 early next year!

All I would say, is that these exams are due to retire at the end of July next year, so might be worth looking at a 2012 certification.

Either way, good luck

 

Welcome to CF!

 

As mentioned the .NET 4 certification track is about to expire and the new track focuses largely on Windows 8 Store applications.

VB .NET is also not as popular as a CLR language these days, its nearly all about C# with a few people doing F#.

You could attempt an MCTS in C# 5 by doing Exam 70-483.

Otherwise I'd just study up on all the new language features and frameworks, LINQ, PLINQ, Async, Rx, TPL, Await, Extension Methods, Lambdas/Closures, Type Inference, Expression Trees, WCF, WPF, MVC 4, etc.

Theres probably too much to bite off all at once so I'd focus on areas that you will get the most benefit from, maybe focus on web or windows to start with or just core language and framework.

 

Welcome to CF.

 

Thanks for the welcoming all!

I had noted the expiring exams however in my job transitions I moved from 64-bit Win7 to 32-bit xp and I don't foresee us moving to 2012 anytime soon. :/

I appreciate the helpful suggestions and I'll probably start with linq and expand from there.

Thanks again and I look forward to being involved in this community!

 

Hi. I am sure you will find everyone really welcoming. Plenty of good advise on here, just need to start digging through the forum!

 

Welcome to CF, good to see you here.