Last Updated on 2022-07-15 by James Croft
Looking to learn C#? Starting your journey in a software engineering career or heading off to university?
Well it’s super easy to learn C# and it’s a great starting language for you to have a go at!
A second-year mechanical engineering student asked me if I could teach him to code. He explained to me his project idea and what he wanted his application to do.
He would often ask me, ‘How did you learn all of this and how can I learn more?” to which I replied, “It all started with Rob Miles little yellow book!”. From that point on, I’ve been constantly aiming to get keen learners the material they need!
Material to learn C#
The C# yellow book is a free publication by Rob Miles, a Microsoft MVP and ex-university lecturer. I have covered the book many times before and it is one that I highly recommend.
Whether you’re new to coding or looking to refresh yourself, you can pick up a free download copy at robmiles.com/c-yellow-book!
In that book, you will find the fundamentals to learn C# from your first ‘Hello World’ application to your own simple Banking system. It is a great starting place for you and one that comes highly recommend.
Learn C# with Microsoft Learn
Relatively new, Microsoft provides an awesome learning resource of their own called Microsoft Learn.
It provides you with online learning courses and modules to take your on a journey to improve your skills. Whether you’re looking to change roles, or just fancy learning something new!
Another on the list of highly recommended resources is definitely the ‘Take your first steps with C#‘ module available!
It’s a module that lasts approximately 3 hours that takes you through all the basics to learn C# quickly and easily.
Tools of the trade
When it comes to any programming language, you need to pick the right IDE for your needs.
Developing with C# is super easy and is accessible in so many different ways. Two of my favorites are JetBrains Rider and Microsoft’s own Visual Studio.
If you opt for Visual Studio, Microsoft offer’s a community edition which is free for you to use for your personal development. No need to subscribe, pay a monthly fee, or purchase a license.
When you get into learning C#, I also recommend taking a look at this post about source control management too! You’ll find it very useful for managing your code bases and understand why it is important to use source control management.
What to learn next?
Depending on how fast you pick up on Rob Miles’s yellow book or Microsoft Learn modules, you may end up fluent in basics in a matter of days!
Now that you’ve completed that, what do you want to do? The great thing about C# is that .NET branches out into so many avenues.
You can now start looking at web development with ASP.NET Core. You could try your hands at building apps for Windows. Maybe you’re interested in building cross-platform apps with Xamarin or Uno Platform.
Whatever you choose to do, .NET allows you to explore anything and everything!
Helpful resources to continue learning with C#
Developing native applications
Have you decided on developing desktop or mobile apps? Here is a list of some great resources that I recommend you check out!
- Udemy Course – Introduction to Uno Platform
- Microsoft Learn – Create a mobile app with Xamarin.Forms
- How-To Guide – Using the Uno Platform to build UWP apps on any platform
- How-To Guide – Create your first Universal Windows Platform app in VS
- Microsoft Docs – Universal Windows Platform
- Microsoft Docs – Xamarin
Building for the web
Is mobile development not your scene? Well here are some resources for developing for the web.
- How-To Guide – Get started with ASP.NET Core MVC
- Microsoft Learn – Create a web API with ASP.NET Core
- How-To Guide – Kick ass with ASP.NET Core & Vue.js
- How-To Guide – Creating ASP.NET Apps with React
Head in the clouds
Maybe native or web apps aren’t for you. How about exploring the art of the possible in the cloud with .NET? Here are a few resources to get you on your way.
- Microsoft Learn – Create serverless applications
- How-To Guide – Create a C# function in Azure using VS Code
- Books – Serverless computing in Azure with .NET
- How-To Guide – Containerize your .NET Core apps
- How-To Guide – Deploying ASP.NET Core applications in Kubernetes
Getting started with game dev
So you’re not interested in application or web development? How do games sound? Check out these resources to get started!
- Unity Learn – Create your first Unity project
- How-To Guide – How to create a simple game in Unreal Engine 4
- Tooling – The best 15 mobile game development tools
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