Before taking a course...
I discussed getting up to speed with a new programming language several
months ago. I thought I would follow up on that theme by relating to
you the experience an associate of mine had a few weeks ago with a
formal training class he took at a Microsoft Certified Technical
Education Center (CTEC).
My associate, let's call him "Jim", is a Visual Basic expert, and he
had spent some time learning Java on his own. He decided to spend a
week in a Java fundamentals class being offered by a CTEC with whom he
had taken several enjoyable Visual Basic classes. The instructors at
this CTEC had always impressed Jim. Previously, in addition to teaching
the material, these senior developers and consultants were also able to
bring their real-world experience to the classroom.
For the Java class however, Jim was a bit disappointed. Although the
instructor was knowledgeable about the subject matter, he readily
admitted that he had no professional Java development experience. This
lack of real-world experience became apparen
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t when many of Jim's
questions about real-world issues of speed, style and deployment went
unanswered. All in all, Jim came out of the class not knowing much more
than when he went in. As a professional developer, Jim wanted to come
out of the class with some professional tips and guidelines, and that's
not what he received. Still, I think Jim got what he deserved.
I chided Jim for failing to heed the 4-step checklist that I run
through prior to taking any formal classes. For your reference, here it
is:
Following my checklist is a great way to avoid surprises and to get the
value for your training money that you deserve.
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Written by John Smiley, MCP, MCSD and MCT, author, and adjunct
professor of Computer Science at Penn State University in Abington,
Philadelphia University, and Holy Family College. John has been
teaching computer programming for nearly 20 years.
John Smiley is president of Smiley and Associates, a computer consulting firm located in New Jersey.
