I started programming 3 years ago with VB.NET and encountered the same things you are seeing now. It won't change. VB developers are generally less likely to put content online. Limiting yourself consuming just VB or C# articles is just silly. Here's a cheat sheet to get things started. If you embrace both languages equally you should have no problem applying C# articles to your VB development.

Great assessment, I think most people who work in a large organization can relate. Its a big deal to change the standard browser and backwards compatibility is essential. Implementing poorly defined standards to appease the bleeding edge crowd would be stupid. I'll bet even if IE resolved all of the "issues" most people have with it they still would opt not to use it just on principle. I've just come to accept that IE is a necessary evil, especially in enterprise web development. As long as my employer allows me to use chrome or mozilla on my machine for browsing I could care less. Furthermore, the challenge of developing for a diverse set of browsers adds to my value as a developer. If all I had to do was code to a set of standards, a large portion of the web development work out there could be done by a well written program.

Thanks for the reply! I guess what I was thinking is not consulting in the traditional sense that you two see, but as more of a specialized service. In my area there is a large pool of demand for .net programming(Chicago), so much that I think with the right networking I could work for myself without needing a headhunter to find me jobs. I didn't dream up this job description either. The company I work for as well as my previous employer had specialized projects which were done by a purely .net consultant who would come in as needed to make suggestions/modifications. I don't fancy starting a firm or having employees underneath me. Just the power to command more respect for my time and the opportunity work on a greater variety of projects. I realize that the politics and bureaucratic aspects of being a developer won't go away, but from what I've seen roadblocks get moved much quicker when there's a direct cost to them.

I would like majority of my time to be coding. I realize to start this way I would need to work entirely with recruiters at first. My hope is that through networking and ambitious marketing I could gradually reduce the amount of leads found through recruiters.

Thanks very much, exactly what i was looking for.

This section of the forum seems a little dead, but I'll give it a shot anyways. Ok, so maybe the title's a bit of an exaggeration. But I am beginning to feel this way about salaried employment. I've only worked in two jobs but have talked to many others who describe a similar situation. Things are tedious in the corporate world, projects get stalled, code gets "maintained" (aka hundreds of format changes) and there's the inevitable waiting for approval and doing things to your bosses' "standards". After reading a couple books on getting into consulting it seems like it might be the thing for me. What I'm hoping to find here is some advice or even better wisdom from others who have gone down this road. I have 3 years experience and already feel like I am more productive and adept than my co-workers. I am by no means an expert but I also don't see my current line of work as a way to get to that level. What are some of your regrets or decisions that you are grateful for having made? Is 3 years experience too early to start on my own? What can I do to better prepare myself for the business aspect of consulting?

Thanks for the input. I actually decided to move on and am starting my new job on Monday next week. Very excited! On top of that, my new job offers reimbursement for educational expenses!

I got my college degree in History. I got my first programming experience by diving into Visual Web Developer Express (free) and eventually finding a non-profit company that relies heavily on volunteers with a need for a web programmer (I volunteered the summer). A lot of newer programmers, especially ones with experience/knowledge from college tend to miss web-based technologies as being great opportunities to get programming experience. Any good programmer will tell you to try experiment with many different technologies/languages, especially those out of your comfort zone, to enhance your skills. As for finding a paid job programming, that might be too great an expectation since he only has one course and no demonstrated experience, but you never know.

Did you try removing the CodeBehind attribute? Its probably not even needed since the Service attribute specifies the namespace and class of the code. It says Service instead of Assembly because the @ directive just points to the service class, not a different assembly from the rest of the project. I haven't used a WCF service in a long time so take this with a grain of salt.

So I just got out of college with a degree in History two years ago. I immediately became interested in .net (through the influence of my brother) and after a successful volunteer project found a job as an in house Web Programmer of a large online/retail distributer. I've been with the company for nearly two years and have a below average salary. At this point I feel I've outgrown what the job has to offer and there is zero opportunity for advancement or learning (other than what I do on my own time). I hesitantly updated my resume and started receiving calls from recruiters but am very nervous to seek other opportunities. Mainly in the back of my mind I wonder if I can be successful in the developer market because I don't have a degree in the field. I guess what I'm really asking is what kind of hardships can I expect in my science degree-less future?

Good to know. I've hated them for different reasons already, just going to add this to the list.

I see the price of the bundle as 329.99. If you were billed 384.99 for that today I would call and complain, ask to speak with a manager if they won't help you. B69-4027

My boss is the same way. The number one reason that comes to mind for me is Job security. He makes himself indispensable by being the only one who knows what's going on.