Ask HN: Suggestions for learning a new framework/platform for a .net developer

1 points by blntechie 15y ago ↗ HN

I'm a programmer with fair amount of familiarity in ASP.NET, WinForms and WPF development in C#. I'm looking forward to learn a new language/web framework after reading lots of posts here in HN where users tell their experience in developing weekend apps in platforms i'm not familiar with.

So suggest a new language/web framework for me.

Requirements : 1) Should be hostable on a linux server (main reason why i want to learn a new framework). 2) Languages/platforms similar to C# and .NET will be appreciated. (need not be very similar. just not a radical difference in how i code)

5 comments

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lappet 15y ago ↗

If you are a .net person on Linux, you should probably look at Mono(http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page) I found this discussion on StackOverflow about Mono-based frameworks:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/587159/has-anyone-used-an... On the other hand if you are open to learning new languages like python or ruby you could check out Django or Ruby on Rails

blntechie 15y ago ↗

I considered Mono. But I want to learn a new language. Thanks for the Django suggestion. Tried RoR once and felt that it didn't fit my style.

lappet 15y ago ↗

Sure. I found The Django book (http://www.djangobook.com/) a good book to start with.

dotBen 15y ago ↗

What kind of stuff do you want to build - one of the few things going for the .net stack (excuse me, I'm not exactly a fan) is that it's widely implementable in server apps, web apps and even mobile apps.

Even in web apps, it would be useful to know the kind of project(s) you want to work on. Java might be ultimately your best bet if you want to continue doing big enterprise grade stuff where as Rails might be ideal to learn if you want to move into fast-iterative startups (Even if you don't like the style).

blntechie 15y ago ↗

I really don't want to restrict myself to enterprise grade apps. Java is too enterprisey I would say just like .NET. It's just my opinion. Meanwhile, frameworks like Rails are what I'm interested in. Fun and for personal projects. Doesn't matter whether it fetches me a job or not. After searching through HN, Django and Rails are what looks to be dominant recommended frameworks here.