Hello, my name is Daniel Hilliard and I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to take a gander at my first attempt as a blog. I currently reside in Victorville, California with my wife and three girls. At the time of this writing, I’m a freelance software developer.
I’ve been interested in software programming and design for the past 14 years (though for a portion of that time, only at the hobbyist level). I’ve been working with the Microsoft .Net framework since version 1.1 (both VB.Net and C#) and also have experience working with Java, C, C++, Visual Basic 6 and Pascal (first programming language I ever learned). I also have a working knowledge of UML design patters and data modeling.
In addition to writing business and productivity software, I’ve also tried my hand at writing video games (though currently only at the hobbyist level). In this regard I have used both the managed DirectX 9 SDK and XNA libraries as well as an old C library called Allegro (good for creating retro style, Atari 2600 level games (yeah, that’s old school)).
For formal education, I’ve completed my Associates degree in Computer Information Systems from Victor Valley College and then Transferred to California Polytechnic University in Pomona to complete my Bachelors. As much as I’d love to be able to proclaim that I received my Bachelors, unfortunately circumstances got in the way goal. During my senior year, my wife started developing serious kidney problems and other health conditions, so school had to take a back seat. Though I had to temporarily suspend my formal education, I never let my personal education cease. I’ve been informally continuing my studies till the present day.
While I’m glad to say that my family issues have improved to the point where I can soon return to school and finish my Bachelors (finally) but before I set out to accomplish this, my short term goal is to is to receive my first Microsoft certification. I’m actively preparing to take the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) Application Development Foundation exam (70-536) to be followed by the ADO.Net Application Development exam (70-561). After this, I am also planning on taking the Windows Forms Application exam (70-505) and the Windows Communication Foundation exam (70-503). I might possibly consider trying for the Windows Presentation Foundation exam (70-502) though if I do it would only be after finishing school and getting the other two certifications listed above.
Purpose of this blog:
My purpose in creating this blog is three fold:
- My own personal study resource
- To help others
- To get feedback
I’ve read once before that the most effective way to learn something is to try and teach it to someone else. That is the philosophy I am adopting in creating these blogs. As I prepare myself to take the MCTS, I’ll spend some of my time committing my notes online with actual working examples to illustrate the concepts I’m trying to master.
While true, I don’t expect to be the first source people would look to for answers (or even the second, third, tenth, etc…), I do hope that someone looking up a particular topic might actually be helped by one of these articles. Many a time I’ve been looking for insight into how to implement a particular piece of logic just to find someone else with a similar issue posted a working solution in one of there own blogs and I’m grateful when they do.
“Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” Proverbs 12:1 NKJV
My third reason for writing this blog is that I hope to get constructive feedback from those more knowledgeable than myself. While there are portion of the .Net framework I feel I know extremely well, there are other areas where I fully realize my knowledge is lacking. If I post something that is incorrect or if anyone knows of a better way to implement some particular functionality, I more then welcome constructive comments. I’m especially interested in hearing from those who have already taken the MCTS certifications that were listed above to better know what to prepare for.
Well thank you for taking the time to read this introduction. Please check back regularly to see what’s new.
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