Hi
My main skills are in multi-dimensional databases and data warehousing. My current contract requires primarily IBM Cognos TM1 skills, but I also develop using MDX, Excel, VBA, MS SQL Server, SSIS, DOS Batch, Powershell, C#, ASP.NET and HTML
I am interested in Web Development. I looked at AngularJS, and ReactJS, but found they were too much of a strait jacket. I am looking at VueJS, which has apparently been benchmarked to run faster than React and can be used alongside other JavaScript libraries. I am also looking at NodeJS at the backend. I can't say that I like JavaScript as a language but if you want to do web development it is the only thing that runs natively on most browsers. In my view, if you need to learn it for the front-end you might as well use it for the backend, hence NodeJS. I am warming to JavaScript a little now. They seem to be providing alternatives to its original wrinkles, although I wish they had got it right in the first place.
I have developed in Java in the past but while I liked the original concept I got disenchanted with the vast number of different frameworks and approaches, and people who talk about design patterns, but forget about user requirements. That can happen in any language but it just seems more prevalent in the Java area.
I read books on the train and do some development in my own time.
Obviously the downside of paying for training courses is the loss of fees while you are taking them and the cost of the course.
I did pay for a training course once but found that it wasn't really worth it, as I would have got just as far by studying for a week myself. As it turned out I never used what I learnt anyway.
In practice, if you are going to learn something new, I would say make it only a little away from what you are currently doing so that you can use it in your current contract. I doubt that anyone is going to take on a contractor who has just done a course in X, even if they have years of experience in Y. That is just the nature of contracting.
Regards
Paul
My main skills are in multi-dimensional databases and data warehousing. My current contract requires primarily IBM Cognos TM1 skills, but I also develop using MDX, Excel, VBA, MS SQL Server, SSIS, DOS Batch, Powershell, C#, ASP.NET and HTML
I am interested in Web Development. I looked at AngularJS, and ReactJS, but found they were too much of a strait jacket. I am looking at VueJS, which has apparently been benchmarked to run faster than React and can be used alongside other JavaScript libraries. I am also looking at NodeJS at the backend. I can't say that I like JavaScript as a language but if you want to do web development it is the only thing that runs natively on most browsers. In my view, if you need to learn it for the front-end you might as well use it for the backend, hence NodeJS. I am warming to JavaScript a little now. They seem to be providing alternatives to its original wrinkles, although I wish they had got it right in the first place.
I have developed in Java in the past but while I liked the original concept I got disenchanted with the vast number of different frameworks and approaches, and people who talk about design patterns, but forget about user requirements. That can happen in any language but it just seems more prevalent in the Java area.
I read books on the train and do some development in my own time.
Obviously the downside of paying for training courses is the loss of fees while you are taking them and the cost of the course.
I did pay for a training course once but found that it wasn't really worth it, as I would have got just as far by studying for a week myself. As it turned out I never used what I learnt anyway.
In practice, if you are going to learn something new, I would say make it only a little away from what you are currently doing so that you can use it in your current contract. I doubt that anyone is going to take on a contractor who has just done a course in X, even if they have years of experience in Y. That is just the nature of contracting.
Regards
Paul
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