All about .Net
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The Chennai.Net Student User Group has bagged the `Microsoft Best Student User Group Award' this year. A treasure trove of tips, free downloads and learning tools, the group is a 750-strong forum of experts.
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GONE ARE the days when a graduate or Plus-Two student had to slog for hours in a coaching centre to learn software. These days, classrooms are just a mouseclick away.
User groups or portals on the Internet where students share, learn and gather information on their subjects of interest are as numerous and varied as the city's students and their varied interests. There are many user groups that provide for information exchange, within the city itself, most of which focus on computer languages. But those user groups that take software even to the not-so-computer-savvy masses stand out in the crowd.
The Chennai.Net Student User Group (www.cnugstudent.net) , is of, by and for students. It is not only a forum for computer students, but a haven for all others who are computer `Engees' (Engineers) at heart. It is solely dedicated to giving its members everything on .Net (pronounced dot net) — a programming platform from Microsoft used for developing powerful software with ease.
The rate of traffic, their membership and their activities are what helped Chennai Student .Net bag the `Microsoft Best Student User Group Award' this year.
This user group features an extensive database on .Net and provides many learning tools that help the geeks.
``The main idea is to see that nothing goes above your head,'' said Imran, a new member of the .Net User group. "For example, all you need to do is post a query on the user group forum and you are answered with definitions, tips, free downloads and links that help you try out what you have learnt." This factor has turned the Chennai Student .Net User group a 750-strong forum of experts and students from a membership of 30.
It all began one and half years ago, when Sriram Krishnan, an Information Technology student of SRM engineering college, started a small user group that discussed .Net. In a voice that spoke of his confidence, he said ``I wanted to bridge the gap between the industry's expectations and the student.''
The .Net information and support offered by the group is designed and updated by the members themselves. But Microsoft provides technical support whenever needed and gives away CDs and other learning material to the members for free during the meets often held once a month.
Daily tips and suggestions, e-jokes, group projects in which all members help develop software, coding competitions and updates on the industry's trends make learning here fun.
Virat Singh, assistant manager of Chennai.Net Student User Group, is now an employee of HCL. ``It is because of Chennai.Net Student that I'm now in HCL. My search for answers for questions of other members took me beyond the classroom. It has been a great learning experience,'' he says.
Some of the members of the group also give free lecture demonstrations in colleges as Microsoft ambassadors.
A special activity of this group is the labs. About 50 - 60 members are chosen on a first-come-first-serve basis and a common topic for designing an application is fed into a main system. The members then try and develop the application with the help of the experts in the group. The result is a total hands-on experience.
K. Ramachandran
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