.NET is an open source developer platform from Microsoft that gives you a free place to create your own programs and applications. Whether you want to learn .NET to make cool apps for your computer or phone, or you just want to learn to code in general, Microsoft has some wonderful tutorials for you to utilize.
Why use these tutorials?
If you want a firm understanding of programming, you can get a good overview and learn how to package and publish applications. If you already code, we recommend these tutorials to learn how to use .NET to develop your next program or app. To be clear, these free tutorials are not designed to teach you every aspect of programming, they’re designed to teach you .NET, the base platform for developing other programs, and how to build on it. Basically, these tutorials are perfect if you want to start building applications but don’t know where to start.
What lessons are available?
The great thing about .NET is it’s an open source developer platform. It works on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. One of the things you learn from Microsoft’s tutorials is the different requirements for programs to run in different OSs and how to make sure an application you’re coding will work with all of them. This information is contained within various tutorials, though, so be prepared to watch several. Microsoft’s tutorials also offer primers on the different platforms and coding languages that can be used to create computer programs in .NET. Tap here to see Microsoft’s tutorials, and click here to download .NET. There are several tutorials, but don’t feel overwhelmed. You’ll find a series on how to use the Xamarin platform, which is used to make mobile apps, as well as ASP.NET, which lets you make web-based applications. These videos give tons of great tips on how to think about app design and they guide you through some of the coding. As the tutorials are quick to point out, the different platforms do a lot of the coding for you, so you can go in with less knowledge and still create an entire application. For those who know a little about coding already, edits can be made within the platforms, but depending on your skill level you might need to learn about the logic of some arrangements. The main coding tutorial is one on the language C#, and it helps explain the basic ideas of how code works. It also details particular ways to write and use C# in your applications. Tap or click here for more information on how to learn how to code in your spare time. For F# and Visual Basic, you can read Microsoft’s guides (Click here for F#, and tap here for Visual Basic), but there aren’t any video tutorials.
How to get the most from these videos
All of this information is great, but how can you use the tutorials to actually learn how to program? We’ve found watching the videos while following along in .NET has been incredibly helpful as a way to develop an understanding of how programming works. Doing while watching helps get some hands-on experience, which helps transition into programming unaided by tutorials. You can watch the videos on YouTube or on Channel 9. Just click on the ones that interest you most and watch all the videos in the series. Be sure to follow along in your own version of .NET. We recommend starting with the .NET Core 101 series, which you can find if you click or tap here. You need to have an understanding of how .NET works since all the tutorials are built with it. Once you’re ready, focus on the platform that best applies to the project you want to develop. For example, if you want to build a mobile app, learn about Xamarin. The tutorials on machine learning and Visual Studio are a bit more advanced in terms of programming concepts, so those should be avoided if you’re a beginner. After learning .NET, try watching Introduction to Containers (Docker), which can be found here. Docker is a means of publishing your applications once you’ve fine-tuned them, so knowing what to expect is extremely helpful. These tutorials will give you the knowledge you need to get started, and they’ll help you learn a ton until you’re ready to build an entire program all by yourself. That’s pretty cool, and we love that these tutorials make it possible to build your dream program, so check them out today!
