Building a great programming career

Ever since Jenny and I wrote Head First C#, I've gotten a lot of e-mail and questions from developers just starting their careers. (I think it has to do with the fact that our book has become one of the most popular ways to learn how to program in C#.) But there's a big topic that we don't cover in the book, a topic that a lot of our readers really want to know about: how to get a better development job once you've finished the book and feel pretty confident with C#.

We get this question every now and then on the book's forum. And when it comes up, I usually point people to something I posted there earlier this year. I've gotten a lot of good feedback from people who were happy to see that advice. But I've been getting more e-mails from people who want a little more information. More and more people are looking to improve their job prospects, maybe because they've been reading headlines about the economy. So I wanted to delve a little deeper into managing your career in software development.

Read on for more...

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Posted by Andrew Stellman on Monday, Oct 27 Permalink | Comments (4)

Head First Code Magnet Kits: Visualize Code Combinations Before You Execute Them

I'm a real learner who uses Head First books, and I've always found Code Magnet activities very useful. On numerous occasions, I've photocopied the activity pages and cut out the code to do the exercises — I find that reconstructing the working method by hand quite rewarding.

So, when Head First decided to create code magnet kits, I jumped on board right away to try them out. The magnet kits are based on the code magnet activities found in Head First books. The magnet kits have been produced for the following Head First titles: Head First C#, Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML, Head First Java, Head First JavaScript, and Head First SQL. I tried the magnet kit for Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML.

Each magnet kit comes with over 100 magnets with code and a magnetized board that you can use to make countless code combinations. This is great for me because now I don't have to worry about small pieces of paper flying around nor do I have to go to the trouble of photocopying and cutting out those 100 pieces of paper.

The Code Magnet kit made the learning process a lot more fun.

If you've used one of these Code Magnet Kits, we want to know:

1. Did the Code Magnet Kits enhance your learning experience? Was it fun?
2. Give us some examples on how you used the Code Magnet Kits
3. Should we do the Code Magnet Kits for any of our other Head First books?
4. What else can we do to enhance the Head First exercises and activities as well as your overall learning experience?

Posted by Ben Rivera on Thursday, Oct 16 Permalink | Comments (2)