My situation is that I have a number of years experience of developing
applications in MS Access including the use of VBA and I want to move
towards developing applications that can be used over the internet.

So I am looking for training courses so I can learn what I need to
learn. The problem is knowing what it is I need to learn. It's like I
know I want to build a house, but should I learn bricklaying or
carpentry?

I think Microsoft .Net sounds like the right thing, but I can't figure
out whether it is or not and have no idea how to find out. I have
tried the Microsoft website, but found it difficult to find my way
around and it was aimed at those who knew all about it already.

I have looked at Learning Tree and they have a wide range of courses
that are probably suitable, but it is still difficult to really find
out which technology will give me the tools to do what I want to do. I
want to avoid paying a lot of money for a training course and then
find that it wasn't something that helps me do what I want to do.



Particularly I am looking to develop applications:

- that have similar or greater capabilities to MS Access, 

- that are useable over the internet as well as corprorate intranets
and extranets, (perhaps including cyber cafes).

- where user's do not need to install software in the conventional
sense, but just go to a URL, register and log in,

- that are similar in look and feel to the best of the internet
shopping, web e-mail sites, etc. (although I don't expect to be
working on those specific applications).



Choosing the right course to learn about something new can be
problematic - if I don't know .NET how can I know that .NET is the
right approach and which are the right courses for me. I would really
appreciate guidance you can find out.


 
Knowing how to identify the right approach would be good, but these
extra points would be useful too:

- which courses are suitable? 

- which sequence should I attend them in? 

- how much practice time should I build into my schedule between
courses to make sure I get the most out of each of them?

- Are there any potential gaps I haven't identified - e.g. back ends
like SQL Server?
 

Many thanks in advance for your help.

---

Request for Question Clarification by answerguru-ga on 05 Nov 2003 16:32 PST

Hi there,

I have some recommendations for you but just wanted to clarify a couple points:

Are you looking for a course taught in a classroom, self-directed, or
online? Do you have any formal training or education in this area (I
know you mentioned the experience but if you have had prior training
it may change the recommendation)?

If you are looking for classroom training, where are you located?

Thanks,
answerguru-ga

---

Clarification of Question by abclondon-ga on 05 Nov 2003 23:10 PST

Thanks for your help.

I am thinking of a classroom hands-on type course as I think this
would probably be most effective and I do have the budget for that.

I am located in London, UK.

I have attended a classroom course for MS Access a few years ago (I
can't remember whether that was just to intermediate or advanced
level).

Most of my knowledge has come from books and just figuring out how to
do things with help files.

I was employed as a programmer using COBOL about twenty years ago -
but that was on the job training. I studied Electronic Communication
at university, but failed to get my degree.

Do let me know if you need any further clarification.
Many thanks.

---

Clarification of Question by abclondon-ga on 05 Nov 2003 23:22 PST

Sorry, I had another thought...

What I envisage is perhaps about four classroom courses about a week long.
Then perhaps some additional courses like that in a few months time if need be.

I hope that will be enough - I would like to avoid going to college
full time for weeks on end unless I really need to.
Many thanks.

Hi abclondon-ga,

While researching your request I noticed there were a few reasons why
you may have to put in a little extra effort to make the type of
transition you described. Your intuition was correct regarding
Microsoft's .NET Framework as the next logical step. A great way to
see the big picture here is to take a look at Microsoft's .NET Career
Roadmap (you will need Acrobat Reader to view this URL):

http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/training/roadmap/roadmap.pdf

Assessing your experience using this roadmap placed you in the Rapid
Application Development Category (due to your familiarity with VBA and
Access). The next step is to learn the .NET Framework, and you can
actually do this using the VBA concepts you already know. The language
in particular that you would be working in is Microsoft Visual Basic
.NET.

Once you've become familiar with the framework, you can being to focus
on the new direction you need to take. The roadmap conveniently splits
up all the types of positions that .NET can be applied to based on
function and skills required. I have chosen the "Web Application
Developer" role for you since it most closely meets your goals:

Web Application Developer
Develops online applications that communicate with remote
components and XML Web services
(ASP .NET, Web Forms, server controls, DHTML, XML, XSLT,
Web services, XPath)

http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/training/roadmap/roadmap.pdf

Your concern regarding SQL Server and other backend skills should not
be a major one - you are best off gaining the competencies associated
with a specific role rather than trying to be a "jack of all trades".

Now that we have narrowed down your goals, we can find the appropriate
training in your area that will help you gain these skills. To do
this, we need to tap into Microsoft's directory of certified training
providers (who are located all over the world). We will also need to
look at the standard courses that are available for each of the
technologies listed above. To get started we go to the "Find Training"
section of Microsoft's Learning site:

http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/training/find/findcourse.asp

MS CERTIFIED TECHNICAL EDUCATION CENTERS (UK)

Since I don't know where in the UK you are located, I will give you
the comprehensive list of MCTECs (you can always narrow it down by
going to the above link and changing the search parameters to include
your city):

Azlan Ltd
Azlan Training
Azlan House
Mulberry Business Park
Fishponds Road
Wokingham, Berks RG41 2GY GBR
0118-9897713

QA PLC
QA PLC
St James House
10 Rosebery Avenue
Holborn
London, EC1R 4TD GBR
0870-9060090

Pygmalion Computer Group
Latham House
16 Minories
London, London EC3N 1AX GBR
020-76809599

Parity Training
Alton House
177 High Holborn
London, LONDON WC1V 7AA GBR
020-76328700

ICS Solutions LTD
.NET Solutions Campus
Skippetts House
Skippetts Lane
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 3HP GBR
01256-403800

BIC Systems Ltd
B.I.C. Systems Ltd
Enterprise House
201 Airport Road West
Sydenham Business Park
Belfast, N. Ireland BT3 9ED GBR
02890-532200

F1 Computing Systems Limited
F1 Developer Training Solutions
4-10 Heneage Lane
City of London
London, London EC3A 5DQ GBR
0800-1691890

Parity Training
Unit 7, Beecon House
Technology Park
Belfast Road
Antrim, NORTHERN IRELAND BT41 1QS GBR
020-85456400

Parity Training
Maybrook House
40 Blackfriars Street
Manchester, MANCHESTER M3 2EG GBR
020-85456400

Parity Training
Minley Road
Fleet Mills
Ancells Business Park
Fleet, HAMPSHIRE GU51 2RD GBR
0208-5456400

http://directory.microsoft.com/ResourceDirectory/Training.aspx?DirectLink=true&LanguageID=25

RELEVANT CLASSROOM COURSES

Below is a list of courses that are relevant to your defined career
path. Keep in mind that I am not saying that you should take all of
the. The course offerings have been packaged in different ways and are
overlapping in some cases. The objective here is to learn the skills
that we defined for you above. I have tried to reduce the redundancy
as much as possible. I have also included my opinion (in square
brackets) of how important I think the individual courses are to your
development

Before undertaking these courses, do note that HTML and DHTML are a
prerequisite for 2310 (this is a fairly simple topic that your can
grasp with a good book on your own):

Course 2415: Programming with the Microsoft® .NET Framework (Microsoft
Visual Basic® .NET)
[REQUIRED]

Summary: This course will provide developers with a hands-on tour of
the Microsoft .NET Framework and tutorials about working with
assemblies, versioning, the common type system, memory management,
file and network I/O, serialization, remoting and web services.

Audience: Developer  

Delivery Method: Online-Instructor led, Classroom 

http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/syllabi/2415BFinal.asp


Course 2310: Developing Microsoft ASP.NET Web Applications Using
Visual Studio .NET
[REQUIRED]

Summary: This course will teach students how to use Visual Studio .NET
to create an ASP.NET application that delivers dynamic content to the
Web.

Audience: Business Decision Maker, Developer  

Delivery Method: Classroom  

http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/syllabi/2310BFinal.asp


2524: Developing XML Web Services Using Microsoft ASP.NET 
[HIGHLY RECOMMENDED]

Summary: This course teaches experienced software developers how Web
Services can be used in solving common problems in the distributed
application domain. This course teaches developers how to architect
and design applications to take advantage of the new archite

Audience: Developer  

Delivery Method: Classroom 

http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/syllabi/2524Cfinal.asp


Note that for each course listed, there are typically numerous MCTECs
in your area offering the course. Specific times and locations can be
found by searching from the individual course links. There is also far
more detail in each of the course pages that I have not posted here
for conciseness. All the course listed above should be taken in that
order - I view them to be direct prerequisites.

I hope I have covered all the aspects of your question - should you
have any problems understanding the information above please do ask
for clarification :)

Cheers!

answerguru-ga

Good, comprehensive answer that provided what I was looking for.
Many thanks.
I am sorry I have been too busy to get back and rate this answer until now.