Not good enough just to be a C#/SQLserver expert?

**pzz76077** · 26 October 2009, 22:13

Ever thought of leaving all that behind and moving up the ladder to tech arch, TDA, tech PM, migration projects etc??

This kind of role often requires a good all round background, though not necessarily all hands on.

PZZ

**Zippy** · 26 October 2009, 22:29

I'd go straight for c# myself.
They want experience in ASP.NET as you can do a lot of simple stuff with the IDE without writing any code.
Amongst other things, you'll need to know how to handle XML if you are dealing with webservices.
You'll need some basic web server admin skills to build and maintain your own (desktop) dev environment.
You'll still be required to write elegant, re-useable code.
My last contract involved all of the above and the reason it was required was because they could only afford one techie. Oh what fun

**xux42** · 27 October 2009, 10:53

Originally posted by pzz76077 View Post

Ever thought of leaving all that behind and moving up the ladder to tech arch, TDA, tech PM, migration projects etc??

This kind of role often requires a good all round background, though not necessarily all hands on.

PZZ

Thanks for the quick responses.

Yes indeed I am quite happy to become a solutions architect. I think its vital to demonstrate sound knowledge of concepts, and the capabilities and pitfalls of the technology the developers are using though.
I know as a developer how important it is for architects, managers and analysts to maintain credibility in the eyes of the guys actually building the apps.
This is why I'm doing some hands on C++ & true OOP as well as immersing myself in C#3.0/SQLServer.

PS what does 'TDA' stand for?

**HairyArsedBloke** · 27 October 2009, 11:26

You've just reminded me - I upset the C# guru at one of my clients last week by using something that he didn't know about: the continue statement. He said he'd never seen it before.

Mind you, he was right that using it is a sign of a rubbish design.

**scotspine** · 27 October 2009, 18:08

"solutions architect" - in that case fowler et al should do you well as a starting point.

but you'll sometimes find that people want a "highly skilled specialist who can craft robust, elegant, maintainable and re-usable code" as well as have a look at some legacy stuff hanging around on the server (like a bad smell) and also deal with some broken integration stuff which handles xml batch feeds and also perhaps sit on a db for a day or two while the dba gets back from hols. iow it often depends on why you're being called in...to architect & develop a greenfield app (nice) or to babysit some malfunctioning horrorware that noone else will touch. but ime & aoan a combo of both.

**HairyArsedBloke** · 27 October 2009, 18:26

Originally posted by scotspine View Post

"solutions architect" - in that case fowler et al should do you well as a starting point.

but you'll sometimes find that people want a "highly skilled specialist who can craft robust, elegant, maintainable and re-usable code" as well as have a look at some legacy stuff hanging around on the server (like a bad smell) and also deal with some broken integration stuff which handles xml batch feeds and also perhaps sit on a db for a day or two while the dba gets back from hols. iow it often depends on why you're being called in...to architect & develop a greenfield app (nice) or to babysit some malfunctioning horrorware that noone else will touch. but ime & aoan a combo of both.

You are describing HAB Inc. on a good day

Not good enough just to be a C#/SQLserver expert?