MCSD .NET 70-315 Certification Primer

1. Creating User Services

2. Creating and Managing Components and .NET Assemblies
3. Consuming and Manipulating Data
4. Testing and Debugging
5. Deploying a Web Application
6. Maintaining and Supporting a Web Application
7. Configuring and Securing a Web Application

	Creating and Managing Components and .NET Assemblies and
	Consuming and Manipulating Data

	Divide 100 hours by 7 = 14 hours per objective. This is the average number of hours that you can spend on each objective and still complete your studying in the amount of time you have available.
	Then, decrease the time for the 2 objectives where you are strongest by 40% each: 14 - (14 X 0.4) = 8 hours per objective. This will give you additional time to spend studying the objectives in which you scored low. Actually in this case, you have gained about 12 hours (6 hours per objective) of extra time to study the 2 weakest objectives.
	For the 3 objectives where you think you have an average knowledge of the subject, you should allow the full 14 hours per objective.
	Then add the extra 6 hours per objective that you gained by reducing the time to be spent in the strong objective areas to the 14-hour average for the weakest objectives (14 + 6 = 20).

Microsoft Training
Should you need instructor led training, you will want to choose from these courses: 

1. Course 2310: Developing Microsoft ASP .NET Web Applications Using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
2. Course 2389: Programming with Microsoft ADO .NET
3. Course 2640: Upgrading Web Development Skills from ASP to Microsoft ASP .NET

Books and Training Kits
Then I studied these 2 books to obtain the certification:

1. MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit, Developing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual C# .NET published by Microsoft Press.
2. MCAD/MCSD Training Guide, Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Visual C# .NET and Visual Studio .NET from Que Corporation.

I found the Microsoft training kit to be very helpful because it does a good job of describing, in detail, the requirements of the exam. The QUE book was more practical and gave a wealth of actual examples that were easy to type into Visual Studio .NET and actually use.

If you decide to use either of these 2 books, or both, you should take the Whizlabs Diagnostic Exam, identify what your weakest areas are, and then study those objectives in either or both of these books. The combination of the 2 books covers everything needed, in great depth.

Other books that I used for specific areas of interest are:

• Software Requirements, Second Edition, Karl E. Wiegers, Microsoft Press
• This is a general best practices book that covers general how to determine and define the requirements of the Web Application.
• Covers all objectives, in general.
• Writing Secure Code, Second Edition, Michael Howard & David LeBlanc, Microsoft Press
• This book goes into great detail about how to develop security into your code. Excellent book. The first 4 chapters are a must read for any .NET developer.
• Covers most test objectives in general.
• Building Web Solutions with ASP .NET and ADO .NET, Dino Esposito, Microsoft Press
• This book teaches you how to develop an ASP .NET web application. Good book, fast read. You should work his examples.
• Covers User Services, Consuming and Manipulating Data.
• Professional ASP .NET Security, WROX
• This book goes into great detail about how to configure security on an ASP .NET web site.
• Covers Configuring and Securing a Web Application.
• Fast Track ASP .NET, WROX
• The Fast Track series of books cuts through a lot of the basics and gets right to the actual development examples. The book has only 8 chapters that are chock full of the basics of ASP .NET development.
• Covers all objectives of the test.
• Fast Track ADO .NET, WROX
• I probably learned more from this book than all the others about how to do the data stuff on a web application. Again, it only has 8 chapters that cover XML, connections to databases, data sets, etc. Excellent book.
• Covers Consuming and Manipulating Data.
• Designing Microsoft ASP .NET Applications, Douglas J. Reilly, Microsoft Press
• This book is more of a textbook that goes into a lot of detail about designing web applications. Due to my nature, impatient, I found this book to be better for reference in many different areas. Although it is very thorough, it is quite long.
• Covers most of the objectives, including User Services, Consuming and Manipulating Data, and Configuring and Securing a Web Application.
• C# Class Design Handbook, Apress
• This is a very good book for people switching from Visual Basic 6.0 to C#. It is of great help in the basics of OOP, while it is, also, very practical. Excellent book of basic class design.
• Does not cover any specific objective, but teaches you how to create classes which are used in all objectives.
• C# Design Patterns A Tutorial, James W. Cooper, Addison Wesley
• Teaches you how to use the 23 basic design patterns in C# code. Before this book, I didn't know you could use classes to the extent that is now possible. Your whole web site can be designed using OOP and this book lays out the basic design patterns you can use. Excellent, excellent, wow!
• .NET Patterns, Christian Thilmany, Addison Wesley
• This book goes into much greater detail about using design patterns in your development projects. Excellent book.
• ASP .NET Setup and Configuration, James Avery, Microsoft Press
• Use this book to configure security for your web applications and you will not go wrong. Very good book that concentrates exclusively on setup and configuration of ASP .NET web applications.
• Building Secure Microsoft ASP .NET Applications, Microsoft Press
• This book guides you step by step in setting up security on an ASP .NET web application. Very comprehensive, step-by-step guide to configuring security.
• It will definitely satisfy all the points in the objective, Configuring and Securing a Web Application.
• Debugging ASP .NET, New Riders
• Excellent instruction on debugging

You may purchase the books mentioned here from the following booksellers:

• www.amazon.com
• www.bookpool.com
• www.softpro.com
• www.microsoft.com/mspress/

Online Magazines and Products
In addition to the books, above, I suggest that you subscribe to one or more of the following publications:

asp .NETPro- This magazine is dedicated, as its name indicates, specifically to ASP .NET development. In addition, it has an accompanying web site with a wealth of tutorials, as well as tips and tricks for ASP .NET development.

Visual Studio Magazine- It is the most mature of the available publications and as such is probably better known. Every issue includes numerous articles on various subjects and parts of Microsoft .NET. The various authors, who write for the magazine, contribute code examples that you can download for free. I cannot tell you how much it helps to examine the code developed by many others to learn new techniques.

This is a very good, popular magazine, which is proven out by its longevity.

Code - Component Developer Magazine- is a relatively new developer-oriented magazine with many code segments for .NET. There are articles in the magazine related to most objectives. In addition, you get different views regarding problem solving, see how others view the same problems you face in your work.

Web Sites
The least expensive and most important resource that you can use is Microsoft's MSDN web site. Every objective on the exam is covered in great detail on this site. Just use the hyperlink to go to the web site and then use the search feature to look up any item that you might have a question about. Guaranteed, you will find more information about the subject than you ever thought possible.

I found that in most cases, I could find information on any part of ASP .NET easily. However, due to the volume of data, it often took some time to sift through the information to really understand the subject well.

Overall, this is the best source of information to use in studying for the exam.

GotDotNET- This web site has been developed by Microsoft developers and others to promote Microsoft .NET. It is an excellent source of just about everything concerning .NET technology. There are tutorials, code downloads, and articles on about anything you might want to know about .NET, and examples, examples, and samples, samples, and more samples. The code samples and examples have been written by Microsoft or other contributors for free download.

ASP .NET- This is another Microsoft site which has untold volumes of data about ASP .NET. There are tutorials, examples, etc. on just about everything in the way of development here. It is probably the most organized of all the sites. This is an excellent source of information for all objectives on the test, plus a lot more.

In addition, the site includes links to forums where you can ask questions from other developers and Microsoft employs a number of moderators and experts who will offer assistance to developers on the site.

4 Guys From Rolla is a commercial site that offers tutorials on classic ASP, ASP .NET, and other web technologies. It is an excellent source of examples and samples, too. The site is very well done and has a wealth of information.

In closing, I have to say that I hope you find as much pleasure on your trip to success with ASP .NET as I have found so far. The first step is taking the initiative to study for your exam. The more time and effort you put into this part, the easier you will find the exam to be. Lastly, the effort you put into research and study for the test will benefit you in your career, as well.

The author of this article, James "Jim" Davis, is a .NET and Data Warehouse consultant working with a large retail company in Denver, Colorado, USA . With more than 10 years of IT/IS experience, he has developed several classic ASP web sites and is an early adopter of .NET technology. A member of the Denver Microsoft Visual Studio SIG, Jim has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and has taken numerous Microsoft Certified programming courses. In addition, he holds the following Microsoft Certifications: MCSD, MCAD .NET, MCSD .NET, MCDBA - SQL Server 2000.