My son LOVES watching screencasts of Nintendo DS games on YouTube. They are typically created by 12-year olds, and let’s just say they aren’t heavy on production values.

That said, screencasting is a wonderfully visual way to learn something new. Especially if it’s an activity that is typically performed in front of a screen like gameplay or software development.

Given that’s it’s such a fabulous learning tool, I’ve often wondered why are there so few high-quality .NET screencasts?

It seems even more unfair when you look at the wide variety of screencasts available in the Apple world.

Apple Screencasts

When I began programming for the iPhone, I latched onto the following high-quality screencasts:

• Stanford iPhone Application Programming Classes: These screencasts were a god-send. They gave the big picture as well as digging into detailed code samples. By the end, you learned how to create a full iPhone app.
• Pragmatic Programmer: Becoming Productive in Xcode: When I first started with Xcode, I couldn’t help but feel that I was being unproductive because I didn’t know how to use the IDE. These screencasts helped me learn how to really get around in Xcode so that it became more of a tool and less of of hassle.
• PeepCode: While not strictly Apple screencasts, they have some stellar iPhone tutorials and their production values are insane including detailed animations illustrating iPhone features and concepts.

With the exception of the Stanford classes, these do cost money. But I’m willing to pay for high quality content because it saves me time in the long run by not having to dig through YouTube.

.NET Screencasts

So, if Apple has all of these, where are all the high-quality.NET screencasts? Microsoft has started to post some on MSDN, but they are limited and in a variety of formats and quality levels.

Luckily, the call is finally being answered by some sites that take .NET screencasting to the next level:

• ASP.NET MVC Storefront: These were the first .NET screencasts that stood out to me. Rob Conery does an excellent job narrating and also being humble – sharing his mistakes and learning out loud.
• DimeCasts: Run by Derik Whittaker, this site focuses on shorter podcasts (around 10-15 minutes) and a variety of out-of-the-box technologies loosely related to .NET including: IoC, NHibernate, and Mocking
• TekPub: Just started in the past few weeks by James Avery and Rob Conery, this screencast site strives to bring a higher level of polish to the .NET screencasting world. At this point there are only a few podcast series available (like NHibernate w/Ayene, Coder To Developer w/ Conery, and Building my Own Blog w/Conery), but already this site shows a lot of promise.

With the addition of TekPub to the already strong DimeCasts, I believe that .NET screencasting has finally come of age is going to be a standard learning tool for developers going forward. Kudos to Rob and Derik for getting the ball rolling!

Quick! Name the best living programmer that you can think of. I’ll wait….

Got it. OK. Now let me see if I can guess who you named. Was it possibly Scott Hanselman, or Jeff Attwood? How about Joel Spolsky? Maybe you named Martin Fowler or Uncle Bob?

The funny thing is that while all of these guys are very good programmers they’re probably not the best living programmers. They are definitely the loudest though. They write the most books, blogs and tweets. Basically they shape the conversation and the echo chamber.

Don’t get me wrong. They add a lot of value to the conversation and are generous in sharing their tech knowledge with the world. On the other hand, the best living programmer is probably hacking away on a Unix or Windows kernel somewhere. Or maybe he’s writing the next graphics engine.

But the only ones that are aware of how awesome this person is are his peers. Even the customers that get his product never get to see the output of his art. They don’t see the code, they just use the product and either it works or it doesn’t. The elegance of the code is hidden.

Where’s Your Megaphone?

That’s why if you want to be known as a great programmer, you can’t just program. You need to write as well. Otherwise not many people will be aware of your mad skills. You’ve got to share that knowledge with the world.

It’s really a win-win. If you are truly a great programmer, you will get the credit you deserve and your readers will learn a lot as well. One of the best examples from the past is Michael Abrash. He was an expert low-level assembly coder and graphics programmer who made large contributions to Windows, Quake and Unreal Tournament.

After writing the Zen of Assembly Language and Michael Abrash’s Graphics Programming Black Book, he became known as the ultimate graphics programming expert.

And, if you have some expert knowledge to share, it’s never been easier. You don’t even have to publish a book. Just start writing a blog. If it has consistently great material, you can accrue a following which often leads to a book. In this day of millions of blogs and SEO, content is still king.

So where’s your awesome content? If it’s only in code, your audience might be limited…