Adaptive Nature
During my keynote session at the C#
Corner Annual Conference 2014, I emphasized one line – C# Corner is an
open community. And I talked about the meaning of openness and so
on. In other words, on the C# Corner platform,
we do anything that helps developers, regardless of technologies and platforms.
I want to pass on the same message to the developers.
Be open to new things. Be adaptive.
Don't just limit yourself to a single project, platform
and/or technology. You may end up working for a company that has projects on
multiple platforms. Your new company may have one project in .NET and the other in
PHP. They may be using Oracle for some projects and SQL Server for some. I have
been there. So just be open minded. Learn as much as you can and be open to
anything new that is thrown at you. Now, you have just become one of the most
valuable assets to the company. You’re the “go-to” guy. It may sound
frustrating from time to time but trust me, it’s a good thing.
If you don’t have hands-on experience in something, at least you should
know what it is. It helps. If your boss asks, "Have you worked on Xamarin?" You
should be able to say, "No, I have not. But I know we can build iOS, Android,
and Windows Phone apps using C# language." Guess what, you just scored 8 points
out of 10. Now your boss knows, if there is work to do on Xamarin, you will be the
guy sitting next to him in the next meeting.
It’s funny, me being a Microsoft MVP and other things I do being related to Microsoft, a lot of people think I do not like other platforms or technologies.
“Oh, you’ll hate this project. It’s in PHP.”
Just because I have more experience working with C# and
Microsoft and just because I like to work in the Microsoft space does not mean I
hate open source.
BTW: In 2014, Microsoft announced it has open sourced its .NET framework. The new open source version of .NET is called .NET Core.
I also see some people already have their mind made up. They
love Apple. No matter how crappy a product Apple brings, they are loyal customers.
Same applies to Google, Microsoft and other companies. There is nothing wrong with being a loyal customer. Good developers should be open to trying new things and you never know.
You never know until you try it.
As a PC guy, I tried Apple Macbook Pro. I didn’t like it and
only used it for a couple of days but now I know what it feels like to work on a Macbook
Pro.
So, guys: Just be open to trying anything.
Stop Assuming
I remember at my first job in USA at my company, Kruse Inc., one day my manager
came to me and I replied something like “I assumed .. "
I am sure many of may already be familiar with it. He wrote this on my whiteboard.
ASSUME = ASS + U + ME
(Making a fool of both
of us in front of the management.)
So, the lesson learned is, don't assume. Don't assume that the technology you're working with is "the only" best technology out there.
Conclusion
Today, technologies are changing rapidly and we developers must be on our toes to be up to date. So how can we be up to date? Not just by reading technical articles and documents but also by reading news about technologies, including hardware and innovation. Our editors and writers on C# Corner are also doing a great job bringing the latest industry news. As a good Cricket batsman, keep an eye on the ball but also have an idea where you want to hit the ball.
Happy learning!
Disclaimer: Images are courtesy of Google and their owners. Thank you to DJ, for allowing me to use his photo.