Now we explore what are all the resources available for developers to learn Sitecore.

Prerequisite : As we know that, it is built on .NET platform, so we should have basic understanding, and little hands-on experience in .NET, ASP.NET (Web Forms or MVC), C#, and little bit in SQL server or RDBMS concepts.

Sitecore company is providing two options to train backend developers, although course curriculum is similar in both,

  1. Classroom Training:
    Duration: 4 days
    Fees: varies country to country, but approximately around USD $2000+.
    Lectures by: Sitecore Certified Trainers
    Hands on lab: Yes
    Certification: I do not have much information on this.
    Sitecore License: Not sure about this.
    More details: Check here
  2. eLearning
    Duration: 14 hours
    Fees: USD $1500.
    Lectures by: Pre recorded videos by Trainers
    Hands on lab: Yes
    Certification: The purchase of this course includes a Sitecore Certification Exam Voucher (for single attempt).
    Sitecore License: Sitecore license is must to practice labs. Independent developers may apply for a one month Temporary Student License.
    Course Access: Up to 4 months.
    More details: Check here

I have taken eLearning course, which was fully sponsored by my employer Verndale. Course is having very good explanation of the concepts, and after the course completion, passed the Certification exam, and got the Sitecore 8 Professional Developer Certification.

One main drawback of the course is, it is based on ASP .NET Web Forms. But mostly all new projects are into ASP.NET MVC implementation. But anyway Sitecore concepts are more of similar in both.

Other options
If you are unable to spend that much amount on course, and if your company is not sponsoring it, then it is little bit difficult to kick start. But there are so many wonderful people who share their knowledge through blog posts, webinars, and videos.
There is a very good community around Sitecore, with lot of MVPs and certified developers.

Developer Portal: dev.sitecore.net
Community documentation: sitecore-community.github.io/docs/
Slack Channel: sitecorechat
Unofficial Sitecore 8 Training Webinar Series: http://www.akshaysura.com/2016/02/03/unofficial-sitecore-8-training-webinar-series-full-curriculum/
Stack Exchange: sitecore.stackexchange.com

Happy Learning 🙂