Learning Silverlight #1 - where to start

By admin on 12/02/2011

This is a series of posts of my journey learning Silverlight one weekend:



Okay so I set myself the fun goal of learning Silverlight. First thing to do is to find some resources that I'm going to use for the journey. I always find starting to learn a new technology is much more difficult than enhancing your knowledge on an existing one as you constantly evolve your knowledge through day-to-day work and news. Starting with a blank canvas is much more intimidating when you have no specific project to direct you. A project may be something I set myself once I have the basics down.

Tweet tweet

The first thing I've done, which is a bit different to any previous technology learning processes I've been through, is to prepare a list of suitable folk on twitter that might prove useful, stuck the list into a column on Tweetdeck and am using that to be "in the know" on the latest and greatest. Handy Silverlight folk

Silverlight.net

Next up was the more obvious starting point Silverlight.net

This seems a reasonable reference point but I'm a bit hesitant about the 'getting started' side of things as these tend to be really basic. Will give it a chance though and see where it takes me.

Down the pub

Another starting point I've had some success with previously is TekPub.com so I went to see if they had any Silverlight content. I was pleased to find they did and due to excellent previous experience of watching their NHibernate and asp.net MVC videos I'm more than willing to give the Tekpub Silverlight vids a try.

Due to the compacted timescale I have available, I'm going to focus on video tutorials primarily rather than books or published articles/blogs. I think books are an excellent way to make use of downtime when you're not at your computer but are much slower paced than good video demonstrations. Well that's the hope anyway!