Originally Written in June

Since the pandemic hit, I’ve seen many recruiters writing articles about how the job market has become the most competitive they’ve seen in years. I started out developing in Java, but since most of the job applications I filed out in Massachusetts required candidates to have .net experience, I decided to learn more about it. In order to hone my skills and stand out to employers and recruiters, I’ve done extensive research and preparation in order to educate myself on Microsoft’s Tech Stack ( .NET, ASP.NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, SQLServer, EntityFramework Core, Identity Framework, and Azure). This allowed me to adapt to C# very easily since both languages are similar to each other when it comes to programming fundamentals.

Microsoft originally created C# in order to implement features they felt were necessary as well as fix some of the issues they had seen in other languages. Where the differences started to become clear was in the documentation, implementation, and support for both languages. Even with updated documentation and new versions coming out, Oracle does not go out of its way to educate its customer base the same way Microsoft does. Microsoft’s social media presence, forums for developers, and informative personalities such as Scott Hanselman and Bob Tabor are what allow developers like me to be kept up to date with some of the new material and documentation the company offers.

I'm a firm believer that one can only learn by doing. I’ve used Pluralsight and Udemy courses in order to help me undergo some project-based learning. I’m currently building a Help Desk Ticket web application, built-in ASP.NET Core MVC. The application will function as a way for employees of a company to submit tickets in order to help with technical problems. IT professionals, who will serve as admins of the app, will be able to administer tickets accordingly.

I first laid out a sprint and UML Diagram in order to map out the project. I then worked closely with a mentor from Codementor, a website that pairs programmers with experts in order to help solve programming problems, to consult with. He then informed me of Microsoft’s Identity Framework. This authentication system Microsoft has created allows programmers to easily build applications in which users can sign in and create their own “identities”, or accounts. For example, in terms of the login process, that is all handled on the backend using C# code generated by various standard authentication protocols written by Microsoft. I worked with my mentor closely so that he could help me understand the functions that the identity authentication generated. After adding authentication into the configure function, we then discussed the best way to override the Login.cs and Register.cs files so that it can fit the application. I wanted the user’s email to serve as the username, so I had to customize both the Register.cs and Login.cs file.

Since I’m still learning Full stack development, I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel when it came to the frontend. After discussing with other developers on Microsoft’s C# discord chat, in order to make the web app visually stand out, I decided to use a bootstrap template. The template I chose will allow me to add simple HMTL forms, notifications, and stunning background images to make the app look modern, especially when I have completed the login, register, and forgot password page. As of right now, I am currently in the process of getting a Database set up in order to store data pertaining to the application.

While working on the project, I realized that a lot of in-person coding boot camps have switched to online learning. I decided to apply to Coder Foundry, a boot camp out of North Carolina. I believe this will allow me to become entirely competent in Microsoft's tech stack since Coder Foundry has a proven track record of placing their graduates into employment with top tech companies upon graduation. Their barrier to entry, student portfolios, and recruitment program has earned them an 85% success rate amongst students. I’ve been following the company’s Youtube channel since the pandemic started and their student’s results are impressive. The Bootcamp starts January 4th and from the diagnostic tests and phone calls I’ve had with their employees, they seem to be indicating that I would fit nicely into their program!

For peers, recruiters, or hiring managers that have come across this article, I will be posting more articles about my experiences with Full-Stack development and the .NET Framework so please look forward to more!