Microsoft rolls out tutorial site for new programmers

Microsoft Corp. yesterday unveiled a new Web site designed to help people with no programming experience learn to build Windows applications or Web sites using Visual Studio 2005.

The new Beginning Developer Learning Center offers such developers 45 lessons and 31 short "how-to" videos on programming using Visual Studio 2005 Express Edition products, Microsoft said.

Each lesson takes about 20 to 40 minutes, according to Microsoft, and is provided in multiple content types, including video/audio, documentation and hands-on labs. The lessons are divided into two tracks -- Windows or Web development -- with multiple tiers of lessons.

The first tier of lessons assumes that students have no prior knowledge of programming and teaches them basic concepts, and the next level assumes some understanding of .Net development techniques. Students who reach the final tier are taught more advanced concepts, such as data access and debugging. In addition, the site has a how-to library that users can access for reference on performing common tasks such as using Windows form controls in Visual Basic or C#.

Those who complete a series of lessons will be able to create basic working applications, according to Microsoft.