Here's another training resource that I cannot possibly believe I missed: Ramp Up. It's been available for a while now, and I only just became aware of it when I got a laptop sticker from Brian Gorbett a couple of weeks ago. And while I slapped that nifty looking laptop sticker on my M1330, it took me those extra couple of weeks to follow the link and see what Ramp Up is all about.

What Ramp Up Is All About
Put simply, Ramp Up is a training resource. To be fair, it's probably more accurate to call it a readiness resource, or a learning resource, but that's me just mincing words.

Now, admittedly, it looks a bit outdated — a lot of the content currently on the site is focused on Visual Studio 2005 and the .NET Framework v2.0 — though I would expect some more Visual Studio 2008 content to be coming along soon. (There is already some VS2008 content on the site, based on some TechEd materials posted earlier this year; there is both a Visual Basic 2008 learning plan and a C# 3.0 plan, each with over 10 steps.)

The learning plans on the site follow four core "routes":

• Aspiring Developer — focused on fundamentals, helps people get started in programming
• Java Developer — a Java-to-.NET learning plan focused on C# and the .NET Framework
• Visual Basic 6.0 — a learning plan for experienced VB6 developers interested in learning about .NET
• VS2002/2003 — a learning plan for .NET Framework v1.x developers interested in moving to .NET v2.0

Each of these four core tracks has four, five or more levels of resources, with several supporting resources linked from them. The Aspiring Developer route, for example, covers topics such as programming fundamentals, an introduction to the language of your choice (VB or C#), an introduction to the .NET Framework, an introduction to handling data and security, and an introduction to both Windows web development basics. The programming fundamentals section is further broken down into four sub-sections detailing how to design solutions and solve problems, OO design, how computers process and store data, and how computers "think" and make decisions.

Each course has technical articles, videos, and other resources to help you learn. So if you're in the learning mood, check out Ramp Up, and let me know what you think.