Career Conundrum

[freddster]

IMO there is a big shortage of c# developers in SA. If you are half decent, you can get yourself a job tomorrow.

And how do you get half decent? Experience. How do you get experience? Work. So the story goes...

 

[cguy]

IMO there is a big shortage of c# developers in SA. If you are half decent, you can get yourself a job tomorrow.

Be aware that the market being flooded and being able to get a job tomorrow are not necessarily contradictory. The question is how much will those jobs pay? (the actual "demand" vs supply scenario).

 

[cguy]

If you do not have a CS degree, maybe also strongly consider doing that via Unisa.

I agree - if you haven't got a degree and don't feel confident as a developer, this is a good way to get exposure to development work, and get a leg up on qualifications.

 

[Rickster]

Isnt R45K enough? Geez.

 

[gkm]

Isnt R45K enough? Geez.

It is not just about the money. There is always a risk that one might get retrenched or something and then not being able to get a similar job elsewhere if one's skills only apply to one company. Which is why I think it is pretty wise of the OP to think about what is needed to become more marketable.

 

[cguy]

Isnt R45K enough? Geez.

Is there any number that is really "enough"?

Unexpected death. A friend of mine working at Google, died a while back in his late 30's (cancer). Fortunately, a series of wise career moves meant that he would likely provide for his wife and children for the rest of their lives if they live modestly (and Google's excellent death benefits). Apart from this, I know people who have died cycling, private flying, in commercial flights or even being run over and killed while walking on the pavement. A bit of paranoia and preparedness goes a long way.

What about family? One doesn't think about it in one's 20's, but often one's parents, grand parents, aunts, uncles, etc. are not capable of supporting themselves post-retirement.

How about charities/causes? There is often compulsion to do as best one can for these, which often means chasing the mighty dollar/rand.

I don't think it ever makes sense to question how much is enough. Rather question how it is spent.

... apologies for the off topic rant ...

 

[DA-LION-619]

And how do you get half decent? Experience. How do you get experience? Work. So the story goes...

Work on personal projects, put them on Github or contribute to Open Source projects.

 

[FarligOpptreden]

IMO there is a big shortage of c# developers in SA. If you are half decent, you can get yourself a job tomorrow.

...hence me struggling to recruit capable, reliable developers. My developers are paid quite well (more than market-related, to be honest) and it puts huge strain on the financial prowess of my company. I'd rather pay them well and hold on to them than risk having to go through recruitment and training again - it's a hellishly expensive exercise.

 

[freddster]

Work on personal projects, put them on Github or contribute to Open Source projects.

Cool, thanks. Just working through various c# aspects at this stage. .Net core MVC in progress the last 2 weeks.

 

[DA-LION-619]

Cool, thanks. Just working through various c# aspects at this stage. .Net core MVC in progress the last 2 weeks.

.Net Core MVC is harder since there's not much libraries out for it although it is production ready.

 

[freddster]

.Net Core MVC is harder since there's not much libraries out for it although it is production ready.

Harder than previous MVC? It seems MS trying to get rid of all the back end data coding like selecting etc. Taking away DB /SQL stuff from your C# devs? Thats from the bit I've done.

 

[DA-LION-619]

Harder than previous MVC? It seems MS trying to get rid of all the back end data coding like selecting etc. Taking away DB /SQL stuff from your C# devs? Thats from the bit I've done.

What do you mean? EF Core is also out.

 

[freddster]

What do you mean? EF Core is also out.

Referring to you don't need to deal with db interaction in ASP.Net CORE MVC AND EF Core. You do code first or db first and the interactions is mapped for you.

 

[DA-LION-619]

Referring to you don't need to deal with db interaction in ASP.Net CORE MVC AND EF Core. You do code first or db first and the interactions is mapped for you.

You mean scaffolding? That existed in normal ASP.NET MVC.

 

[freddster]

You mean scaffolding? That existed in normal ASP.NET MVC.

Yes. I'm pretty new to ASP.Net MVC. My C# .Net at this stage is windows apps, ADO.net, ASP.Net(used ADO.net , setup dataconnection, write sql queries for select, update, delete) from waaaayyyyy back. Was sent on couple of courses 2005, project never got of the ground. Didn't use it. Only did entity framework, LINQ last year for the first time. Time to revisit and get up to date.

 

[rorz0r]

You can run ASP.NET Core on .NET framework 4.6 so there's plenty of libraries...

 

[FarligOpptreden]

Yes. I'm pretty new to ASP.Net MVC. My C# .Net at this stage is windows apps, ADO.net, ASP.Net(used ADO.net , setup dataconnection, write sql queries for select, update, delete) from waaaayyyyy back. Was sent on couple of courses 2005, project never got of the ground. Didn't use it. Only did entity framework, LINQ last year for the first time. Time to revisit and get up to date.

You're not missing anything with EF. It's a terrible ORM tool and becomes a maintenance nightmare with all the EDMX mappings if you have a complex data model and follow a (proper) database-first approach. And don't get me started on the poor performance of a code-first approach...

Rather stick to good old ADO.NET (sans DataAdapters) or Dapper.net if you need some micro-ORM goodness. Better yet, roll your own micro-ORM tool. It gives you a good idea of what's going on under the covers and will make you a better developer for it. I've done it before for C#, Java and Node.js, it really isn't that difficult.