What courses would be most beneficial for a seasoned ASP.NET Core developer?

Here are some courses that would be particularly beneficial:

1. Advanced ASP.NET Core: This course should cover deeper concepts such as middleware, custom model binding, and asynchronous programming. You'll gain insights into best practices and performance optimization techniques that are essential for high-quality applications.

2. Microservices Architecture: Understanding how to design and implement microservices can greatly enhance your development capabilities. A course on microservices would teach you about service decomposition, communication between services, and how to manage data consistency across them.

3. Cloud Computing with Azure: As many applications are being deployed to the cloud, learning about Azure services specific to ASP.NET Core would be advantageous. Look for courses that cover Azure App Services, Azure Functions, and containerization with Docker.

4. DevOps for .NET Developers: Integrated development and operations processes streamline application delivery. A training in DevOps practices will familiarize you with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and infrastructure as code, specifically tailored for .NET environments.

5. Front-End Development: Since many ASP.NET Core applications use front-end libraries and frameworks, a course on React, Angular, or Vue.js could complement your backend skills. Understanding how to create rich, interactive user interfaces will make you a more versatile developer.

6. Security Best Practices: In a world where breaches are common, learning about authentication, authorization, and secure coding practices is crucial. A course focusing on securing ASP.NET Core applications will help you understand potential vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them.

7. API Development with ASP.NET Core: Knowing how to build robust RESTful APIs is a vital skill. A specialized course on API development will delve into routing, serialization, and authentication techniques.

8. Entity Framework Core: Mastering this powerful ORM will enable you to manage database interactions more effectively. A comprehensive course will help you learn about advanced querying, migrations, and EF Core performance tuning.

9. Unit Testing and Test-Driven Development: Understanding how to effectively write tests for your applications ensures higher code quality and maintainability. A course in unit testing and TDD specific to ASP.NET Core would refine your testing skills.

10. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs): Given the growing trend of PWAs, learning how to convert your ASP.NET Core applications into PWAs could be very beneficial. This knowledge would allow you to deliver fast, reliable, and engaging web experiences.

I'd like to share my thoughts (even if I'm not a C# programmer):

Not so long ago, I enrolled in some classes focused on functional programming, starting with Haskell and now diving into Scala, which is taught by Martin Odersky (to be honest, they promoted it to me, but I wouldn't say it's exceptional). The goal here is to widen my perspective, so to speak; it's important to be aware of everything around and system design is certainly something valuable.

When it comes to soft skills, I'm not sure they are useful for me right now, perhaps just a bit for improving my speaking skills.

Looks like this isn't really my field of expertise (I believe manuals and examples could provide a faster grasp of concepts than long courses), but I'm more inclined towards other related technologies, what folks in the Western world would refer to as T-shaped skills; or generally anything tied to software development.

Becoming a programmer is often seen as something you must be predisposed to do. Back in 1971, I was working with a BESM-4 and calculating addresses, which I found really intriguing. Fast forward to the 1990s, I dive into the world of personal computers where I learned by myself various languages, such as C, C++, and TASM. It's kind of funny how in this field, you need have that spark, but self-education can take you so far.