It is a prerequisite of the Level 2 course to have Visual Studio ready and installed.
I'd say you'd only need a basic knowledge of how to do things in VS, like creating a new project/solution, debugging, etc. The L2 course is aimed at extending Umbraco functionality through the .NET framework - mostly with C# code.
Your background in PHP will be useful, but there'd still be some .NET methodologies that you'd need to understand.
Where are you planning on taking the courses? You're best bet is to drop an email to the trainer (in the UK it's Darren Ferguson) - talk with them about it too.
I'm planning to attend in Denmark, Copenhagen. I directed my initial inquery to the Umbraco 'company', and they directed me here, in the hope some would have experienced this. I don't know who will be in charge of the training.
Guess I should just accept a high learning curve and only expect to get 50% from the level 2.
If any of you have recommendations on on entry level stuff, sites and what not (ie .NET methodologies I'd need to understand) it would be greatly appreciated.
i would have to say that YES, it would be worth it if you have the option to get the level 2 training, as well. I took the class having NO visual studio or .net development experience and the training provided an excellent overview of both while tyiing it to our favorite CMS, umbraco :)
for me, i was able to see the similarities and differences in the development paths you can take with umbraco [xslt vs. user control, etc.] and ultimately, it has made me a better project manager and employer of freelance .net developers because now i am educated on the process and level of complexity or lack there of that lots of custom projects require.
I have also attended the level 2 course and like Bob I don't have any particular good .NET/C# skills but now I know my way around doing SIMPLE things with the API. So no doubt that you can gain a lot from it having PHP experience.
When i attended we worked together in pairs and my mate was fairly skilled in C# so I learnt very much in those two days even though he wrote most of the code. But before coding we discussed how to solve the tasks. It worked very well.
Furthermore it gives really good insight on the many opportunities you have do solve tasks with Umbraco. There are many ways to do things and I have not tried them all out yet myself.
Peter, I'd also say go for it! I attended the Level 2 course in Copenhagen a few months ago (Per Plough was the teacher), even thoug I'm actually a frontend developer. I have an interest in .NET/C#, but I'm not at all capable of creating anything big and crazy at all. Before I attended the course I knew how to create a simple redirect in C# and that was it.
After taking the course, I can see that I've learned a whole lot of new stuff. If you just have a basic understanding of programming you will learn some new great stuff in the level 2 course even though you don't have experience with C#.
But actually, it all comes down to if you like Umbraco or not. Or at least if you want to learn the stuff or not. If you like the CMS just as much as a lot of we others do, and you want to learn how to do cool stuff with it, you will, without a doubt, learn some nice things going through the level 2 course. And you'll probably pass the exam as well.
So Peter - Go for it, and have a nice couple of days learning more great stuff about Umbraco!
Level 2 training with little to no experience with .Net and Visual Studio
Hi
I'll likely be going to a Level 1 training course - and contemplating on whether I should go for the Level 2 as well.
The company I work for is moving everything to an Umbraco based setup - so definitely need to get up to speed.
My question: would it be worth it taking the level 2 and 1 in one go?
(My thoughts: probably not due to me not having much experience with .Net and Visual Studio)
If it's like I suspect, would I be able to pull enough .Net learning in a couple of weeks to get something out of Level 2.
I do have a lot of experience with LAMP stack developement and PHP/MySQL IDEs
Hopefully someone with similar experience could throw in his/hers two cents.
Regards and thanks
Hi Peter, welcome to Our Umbraco!
It is a prerequisite of the Level 2 course to have Visual Studio ready and installed.
I'd say you'd only need a basic knowledge of how to do things in VS, like creating a new project/solution, debugging, etc. The L2 course is aimed at extending Umbraco functionality through the .NET framework - mostly with C# code.
Your background in PHP will be useful, but there'd still be some .NET methodologies that you'd need to understand.
Where are you planning on taking the courses? You're best bet is to drop an email to the trainer (in the UK it's Darren Ferguson) - talk with them about it too.
Best of luck!
Cheers, Lee.
Thanks for your reply
I'm planning to attend in Denmark, Copenhagen. I directed my initial inquery to the Umbraco 'company', and they directed me here, in the hope some would have experienced this. I don't know who will be in charge of the training.
Guess I should just accept a high learning curve and only expect to get 50% from the level 2.
If any of you have recommendations on on entry level stuff, sites and what not (ie .NET methodologies I'd need to understand) it would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Peter,
From the UK Level 2 training webpage, the agenda is:
So in terms of Visual Studio, you'd need to know how to create a new ASP.NET project, add User Controls, and debug them.
The ASP.NET website has a number of videos on the subject: http://www.asp.net/web-forms/fundamentals
Also check out the free videos on Umbraco.tv...
If you're interested in LINQ?
Personally I don't think you need to know this - but it can be very useful - and a LOT of .NET dev just love using LINQ! ;-)
Cheers, Lee.
@peter - welcome to umbraco!
i would have to say that YES, it would be worth it if you have the option to get the level 2 training, as well. I took the class having NO visual studio or .net development experience and the training provided an excellent overview of both while tyiing it to our favorite CMS, umbraco :)
for me, i was able to see the similarities and differences in the development paths you can take with umbraco [xslt vs. user control, etc.] and ultimately, it has made me a better project manager and employer of freelance .net developers because now i am educated on the process and level of complexity or lack there of that lots of custom projects require.
if you have the opportunity, i say GO FOR IT!
Hi Peter - And welcome
+1 for what Bob writes in the post above.
I have also attended the level 2 course and like Bob I don't have any particular good .NET/C# skills but now I know my way around doing SIMPLE things with the API. So no doubt that you can gain a lot from it having PHP experience.
When i attended we worked together in pairs and my mate was fairly skilled in C# so I learnt very much in those two days even though he wrote most of the code. But before coding we discussed how to solve the tasks. It worked very well.
Furthermore it gives really good insight on the many opportunities you have do solve tasks with Umbraco. There are many ways to do things and I have not tried them all out yet myself.
/Jan
Peter, I'd also say go for it! I attended the Level 2 course in Copenhagen a few months ago (Per Plough was the teacher), even thoug I'm actually a frontend developer. I have an interest in .NET/C#, but I'm not at all capable of creating anything big and crazy at all. Before I attended the course I knew how to create a simple redirect in C# and that was it.
After taking the course, I can see that I've learned a whole lot of new stuff. If you just have a basic understanding of programming you will learn some new great stuff in the level 2 course even though you don't have experience with C#.
But actually, it all comes down to if you like Umbraco or not. Or at least if you want to learn the stuff or not. If you like the CMS just as much as a lot of we others do, and you want to learn how to do cool stuff with it, you will, without a doubt, learn some nice things going through the level 2 course. And you'll probably pass the exam as well.
So Peter - Go for it, and have a nice couple of days learning more great stuff about Umbraco!
/Kim A
Thank you for friendly and useful feedback.
Seemed like an overall good idea, and yesterday convinced the boss to let me do both.
But damn, those courses are popular. Both are now sold out. I'll try to get on a waitlist or something, since now, I'm all psyched up and ready to go.
Hi Peter, Are you based in the UK?
If so, I have a waiting list for my level 2 course here: http://www.fergusonmoriyama.com/umbraco-training
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