An expansive area of the I.T. industry, computer-programming is also known as software engineering or development. The profession has been in existence & developing for as many years as computers themselves have. With no programs to give them instructions, electronic devices would simply be inert containers without a role to play. Almost every piece of technology in existence incorporates a program within it. DVD or Blu-ray players for example have something known as firmware which essentially is a basic operating system that allows the kit to play. Visualize the navigation menu that pops-up when you are watching a DVD - that's software, & so is the on screen inter-face which you use to set the recording of a programme on your TV. When you press 'play' on your DVD or Blu-ray player and settle down to watch a film, a bit of 'software' pulls the binary code from the disc and transforms it into video data in no time at all.

Its commonly recognised that the best place to begin learning professional computer-programming is with C. It is a very disciplined 'language' & many contemporary 'languages' are based off of it; which means once learned, you will find the changeover in to other 'languages' less difficult. Its also the primary systems 'language', and one of Microsoft's leading supported 'languages' in both 'Visual Studio' (the MS 'development' environment,) and it's accreditation structure. The fact that MS endorse it so eagerly, and supply a large range of professional accreditation in this language, is yet another reason why it is beneficial pursuing it as starting point. The first variation of C was constructed in the 1960's, although it wasn't branded as such. It made the move to something called 'object oriented' 'C++' (this means the program isn't just a single, linear string of events - it can be multiple objects speaking with one another) in the 80's. Around the very start of the 21st century, Microsoft released a '.NET' enabled version which came to be known as C# (C sharp,) bringing us right up to date. MS developed a software framework which allows 'Windows' programmers to have access to an abundance of pre-written libraries. This is what the term .NET describes, & it helps to save programmers a great deal of time as many of the fundamental tasks are already completed for them.

The key Microsoft qualification tracks were upgraded a few years ago, as they changed from the old 'MCAD/MCSD' (Microsoft Certified Application/Solutions Developer) to the more modern MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) & 'MCPD' (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) exams. Generally, there are 2 MCTS pre requisite exams before you move onto the full MCPD examination. If you are new at all to the IT industry & have not written programs before, (although the 1st module from Microsoft is branded a foundation module,) it might be smart to take a programming introductory course first. It is also typically sensible to take a 'support' qualification prior to either of these, so that a fair knowledge of software environments and software support may be obtained. It will in addition help out with getting your first employment in the I.T. market. It's best to normally calculate for training to take a year to a year and a half if you are embarking on a complete career track and doing it part time. The exact level of study time is 600 hours to 700 hours given average circumstances.

As with any technical qualification, a precise goal must be achieved on where you'd like to get to, in order that the best path to that point can be worked out. If you don't begin with your goal in mind, but simply subscribe to the most 'reasonable' program, you might wind up in the wrong place altogether! Programming and software qualifications are not necessarily easy to understand, and if you don't choose them with care it might look like you're walking through a mine-field! Our industry advisors can help to clarify everything for you. You could save yourself a few months or even years of wasted time, and a lot of investment with an informed discussion.

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