Saturday, October 14, 2006

Keeping up with the Frameworks!

This post isn't about frameworks running side by side etc but it's really about the architects & developers that have to manage these frameworks in their environment.

For the last 6 years of so, Microsoft have launched 3 different framework versions (1) .NET Framework 1 (2) .NET Framework 2 and (3) .NET Framework 3 (to be released soon) .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.NET_Framework

The advice would be to get certified on all, as they're released, learn about them and get certified as early as possible. Makes sense right. That's if you were around when it just came out, but what if you've fallen behind (i.e. still coding in version 1.1 and haven't started on 2.0 yet) can that approach really work?

There's an issue circulating among my peers and that is, going forward, which frameworks and their supported technologies do I get certified on to be a marketable developer. In my opinion, get certified on all of them!

The logic for backward certification

Currently our company is pushing to do some new developments and this will be done on .NET Framework 3.0 (WCF) and some done in .NET Framework 2.0 whilst still maintaining tonnes of code we have currently in .NET Framework 1.1.

Companies may not have the funding to upgrade their stable applications to target different frameworks, so v1.1 might be around for a very long time and someone has to maintain it.

Microsoft has made the certification track clear for everyone. After completing the 3 exams required to become a Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD) a developer can easily upgrade to the Microsft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) by doing two additional exams.

In my opinion it's a quick path to the new versions whilst being very much in touch with the previous version. The key is to complete these ASAP and then be ready for the release of the new Microsoft exams on the newest framework.

Dellendinho

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dellendinho, quick is relative, I have been working with .Net version 1.1 for almost 3 years now and I find it challenging to read the volume of material required for being certified MCAD\MCSD on version 1.1 much less to do that then to do the certification for 2.0 in quick succession. ASAP would be at least 6 months treadmil pace, don't know if I can manage that. Why not just certify on the new stuff, but learn about the old when required to know stuff?

Anonymous said...

I agree with craig. I think if there are persons out there who have not yet been certified, then it seems to me that targeting 2.0 is a better option. You should not worry about still knowing the old stuff. This is because many of the good reading material will tend to highlight (the critical things) those areas of change from 1.1 to 2.0 where necessary. I have done more work with 2.0 than 1.1, and many of the things I have learnt about 1.1 was because it was highlighted as a change and also because I am just plain curious. I always ask myself ... "I wonder how that worked in previous version X?".

Anonymous said...

I like Dellendinho's approach, get certified for 1.1 and then upgrade to 2.0. But then, this could be because I have been using 1.1 for the past 2 years & have only just now started dabbling in 2.0.
So, it seems only natural for me to want to be certified for 1.1 first. But, if you dont have the time/patience to work your way up... going straight to 2.0 would be the way to go for some persons.

Unknown said...

Thanks for your feedback guys, i take all the points. i myself am in this dilemna now, but based on my schedule I almost have no choice but to get "certied" (I Created this word) on .NET Framework 2.0 and then prep for 3.0. :(.