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Practice & Resources

This chapter provides a quick reference, curated learning resources, a study plan, interview preparation, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Quick Reference Guide

Task	Command
Create console app	`dotnet new console`
Create web API	`dotnet new webapi`
Build project	`dotnet build`
Run tests	`dotnet test`
Add NuGet package	`dotnet add package <name>`
Publish app	`dotnet publish -c Release`
Create NuGet package	`dotnet pack`
Push NuGet package	`dotnet nuget push`
List SDKs	`dotnet --list-sdks`

Useful Resources

Official Documentation: docs.microsoft.com/dotnet
.NET GitHub Organization: github.com/dotnet
.NET Blog: devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet
NuGet Gallery: nuget.org
ASP.NET Core Documentation: docs.microsoft.com/aspnet/core

Discussion Forums

Stack Overflow — Tag your questions with #.net, #.net-core
.NET Community on GitHub Discussions — dotnet/core/discussions
Reddit — /r/dotnet, /r/csharp
.NET Foundation Slack — dotnetfoundation.slack.com

6-Week Study Plan

C# syntax, data types, control flow, methods. Complete Chapters 1-2.
OOP concepts, collections, LINQ, exception handling. Chapters 3-4.
.NET Core architecture, CLI, project structure. Chapters 5-7.
Libraries, NuGet, testing, dependency injection. Chapters 8-9.
Build, deployment, Docker, CI/CD, migrations. Chapters 10-12.
Advanced topics, source generators, performance. Chapters 13-15.

Interview Prep Questions

Explain the difference between class and struct in C#.
What is the Garbage Collector and how does generational collection work?
Describe the async/await pattern and how SynchronizationContext affects it.
What is the difference between IEnumerable<T>, ICollection<T>, and IList<T>?
How does middleware work in ASP.NET Core?
What are the benefits of dependency injection and the different lifetimes?
Explain Span<T> and when you would use it.

Bootcamp Recommendations

Self-paced bootcamps include Microsoft Learn's .NET Learning Path, Pluralsight .NET Path, and Udemy's Complete .NET Core Course. Many are free with a Microsoft account.

Resume Builder Tips

Highlight specific .NET versions and frameworks you have used (e.g., ASP.NET Core 8, Entity Framework Core).
List measurable accomplishments: "Reduced API response time by 40% using Span<T> and caching."
Include open-source contributions to .NET projects on GitHub.
Mention experience with CI/CD tools (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions).

Q&A

Q: Is .NET Core free?
A: Yes, .NET Core and .NET 5+ are fully open-source under the MIT license.

Q: Can I run .NET Core on Linux?
A: Yes, Linux is a first-class target for .NET.

Q: Should I use .NET Framework or .NET 8 for new projects?
A: Always choose the latest .NET (8+) for new projects. .NET Framework is legacy.

Glossary

CLR: Common Language Runtime — the virtual machine that executes .NET programs.
BCL: Base Class Library — the standard library of foundational types.
JIT: Just-In-Time compiler that converts IL to native machine code at runtime.
AOT: Ahead-Of-Time compilation (Native AOT) that produces fully native binaries.
IL: Intermediate Language — the CPU-independent bytecode produced by C# compilers.
TFM: Target Framework Moniker, e.g. net8.0, netstandard2.0.

Exercise: Create a study schedule based on the 6-week plan above. For each week, build a small project (console app, class library, web API, test suite, Docker image). Document your progress and share it on GitHub with a README linking to this tutorial.