The beginning of a new year is good time to re-appraise your goals and make some concious effort to identify how best to achieve them. Since I passed 70-536 I've been looking forward to taking others and have considered that a 3-4 month period should be sufficient time to prepare and pass each one, whilst giving a reasonable break before starting the next one. Also, I want to cover other areas outside of the exam criteria to broaden my knowledge-base.

I think 3 exams in 2008 is an achievable target but needs commitment and planning. first up being 70-528. So it's my intention to crack on with the ASP.NET v2.0 and I'm targeting early March to take the exam. I'm also aware of the AJAX phenomenon and how many opportunities nowadays seem to include AJAX as a pre-requisite. Although 70-528 does not include the use of AJAX, it's part of v3.5, and also inevitably part of what users will expect in their interactions with web applications now and in the future. Definitely time to future-proof the skill-set and I've got this eBook which Scott Guthrie recommends amongst others.

Once I complete 70-528, I am turning my attention towards the SQL Server exams. Whether I opt for the 2000 or 2005 version depends upon which I'm using by then. At the moment it would be 2000, but at work I may soon be leveraging Reporting Services on the 2005 platform. There seems few universally recommended books on SSRS out there so the tutorials on MSDN may be the best option to start with. Before the year end I may look at MCPD in web apps and go the whole hog on the web apps route.

As part of these lofty ambitions (!) I've tried to be realistic and have nominally allocated a minimum 2 nights through the week reading between 1-2 hours. Then I will follow up with 1 blog post per week looking at a relevant real-world aspect of what I've learned. Also, there are a number of work-related developments which should push me towards other areas (e.g. web services) and where noteworthy I will blog on technical aspects which is something I have yet to use this blog for.

Some evolutions as well as resolutions then.

I've just read this article on 'Learning Lessons' in my lunchbreak. I find Ellen MacArthur's attitude and approach to daunting tasks inspiring to me as a father, a software developer and as someone who committed themselves to sport well into their 20s. I would identify her humility, strength of mind and spirit as her key attributes which enable her to execute these amazing feats.

This post has nothing to do with one of my work collegaues who is currently in Kenya (SAP consultants obviously get far too much money!)

I've mentioned in previous posts about using Safari which is an online book service. Being able to search your bookshelf makes things so much easier, especially when you have a few books which cover similar technical areas you get different examples and viewpoints in the results of a quick search.

For a change I've been doing some JavaScript coding in the past few days and Danny Goodman's JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook has helped get me back in the swing of client-side quirkiness, but have also used the offline version(!) of DOM Scripting by Jeremy Keith. Although I didn't create a new ASP.NET control to solve my app enhancement, this has pushed my interest towards digging into Kothari's Developing Microsoft ASP.NET Server Controls and Components (why do they insist on putting Microsoft in the actual book title? Reminds me of this funny YouTube video on Microsoft designing the iPod which I came across on a blog). I have the "..Server Controls.." at home already but it's still a worthy addition to get the most out of the service.

One improvement to the service would be if you buy a book from wherever (Amazon for instance) there should be a code which you can submit to Safari to access the same book online without consuming a book off your bookshelf allocation. Just a thought. Anyway, I attach my Bookshelf as a .PDF just as a reference point if nothing else.

bookshelf.pdf (128.89 KB)

I've registered for Google Apps in order to make use of Google Docs. This online application allows me to make ongoing notes on all topics wherever I may be and the basic version I have signed up for is free (you get 2GB online storage which is more than enough for me). The GUI is excellent for an online application and includes useful features such as auto-saving as you go along, straightforward image upload & insertion, and I can download and convert a document into another format in a couple of clicks. e.g. to MS Word, PDF etc. And, of course, being Google you can search through all of your documents too.

Why am I starting a blog?

Basically I want to keep a track of the new things I learn in the field of ASP.NET, .NET development in general and SQL Server.

I'm looking to take on .NET v2.0 and SQL Server 2005 as my application development platform of choice. My current employer is also agreed with the move from v1.1 and SQL Server 2000, although my time does seem almost fully consumed with day-to-day issues making migration difficult to start. I'm inclined to believe that I will not have the time to make inroads into the new features and tools during my working days so I'm looking to train up in my own limited spare time. Given that I want the maximum from this effort, I'm particularly interested in following the certification routes. Having gained my MCP in ASP.NET way back in July 2005 it is time to make some headway into v2.0 and consolidate my development skills. I've convinced myself that blogging will help put my progress in a useful context.

By the way, I'm using DasBlog and it's certainly recommended by me. It's pretty straightforward to setup, the help files are clearly written and the error messages are spot-on (e.g. it tells you what to ask of your hosting provider). So far so good on that front.