Shortcut upgrades from MCSD or MCAD to MCPD

For MCSDs, there is a shortcut to attaining MCPD (Enterprise Developer) by clearing the following exams -

1. 70-553 - Upgrade MCSD to MCPD Enterprise Applications Developer - Part 1
2. 70-554 - Upgrade MCSD to MCPD Enterprise Applications Developer - Part 2

For MCADs, there is a shortcut to attaining MCPD (Web/Windows Developer) by clearing just 1 of the following exams -

1. 70-551 - Upgrade MCAD to MCPD Web Developer OR
2. 70-552 - Upgrade MCAD to MCPD Windows Developer

Exam 70-536 (.NET 2.0 Foundation) Study Guide

Following are all the existing sources directly targeted towards studying for the 70-536 exam –

I Free sources –
1) Study guides with MSDN links –
· Prepare for the 70-536 Certification Exam
· 70-536: Microsoft Certification Study Guide
2) Study guides with some content [& MSDN links] –
· Cram Session Study Guide for 70-536
· C# Online Microsoft Exam 70-536 Study Guide
· .NET Framework 2.0 Foundation Wikibook
3) Online Microsoft sources –
· Preparation Guide for Exam 70-536
· .NET Framework 2.0 Programming in Visual Studio
· Webcasts on Modern Software Development Using C#
· .NET Framework Programming Virtual Lab
· MSDN TV [Filter by .NET Framework]
· .NET Framework 2.0 SDK
· Visual C# 2005 Express Edition

II Paid sources –
1) Books –
· MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536)
· MCTS 70-536 Exam Prep(Exam Cram 2)
2) ELearning – 2956E =
· Collection 5160: Core development (16-hour series) &
· Collection 5161: Advanced development (14-hour series)
3) Sample Exams –
· TestKing
· Transcender
· MeasureUp
· SelfTest

III Other sources – (relevant to, but not targeting this exam)
1) Free Magazine - MSDN Magazine
2) Books -
. CLR via C# Second Edition
. Programming Microsoft® Visual C#® 2005

New generation of Microsoft Certification (MCPD) exams released worldwide!

The wait is over! Following are the 2 exams relevant to the main MCPD track (MCPD Enterprise Applications Developer) that have been released -

• .NET Framework 2.0 - Application Development Foundation (Exam 70-536)
• Web Applications (Exam 70-528)

Also, for those of you who are after instant gratification; completing just these 2 released exams will automatically earn you a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification in Web Applications.

The .NET 2.0 Foundation exam (70-536) will also count as credit towards all other MCTS certifications.

I have already posted a study guide for the web applications exam (70-528) in a previous blog entry and updated the same entry with some additional free content that has become available.

Will also post a study guide for the .NET 2.0 Foundation exam (70-536) very shortly.

Exam 70-528 (Web Applications) Study Guide

This exam focuses on web based client development using ASP.NET 2.0. Following are the currently available free study resources on the web related to this exam -

1. Free eBook for exam 70-528 - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Exam_70-528:_Web-Based_Client_Development - This contains each of the exam syllabus topics hyperlinked to MSDN reference material on that topic. An excellent resource to get started on studying for the exam.
2. Quick Start Tutorial - http://www.asp.net/Tutorials/quickstart.aspx
3. FAQ - http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/support/faq/default.aspx
4. Essential ASP.NET 2.0 webcasts (Complete 15 part series) - http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/essentialaspnet.mspx
5. Virtual Labs - http://msdn.microsoft.com/virtuallabs/asp2/
6. Videos - http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/reference/multimedia/
7. Software - If you do not have Visual Studio 2005, you can download Visual Web Developer 2005 express edition from http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vwd/download/.
8. Official Exam Syllabus - http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-528.asp
9. MSDN Reference - http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/ms178093(en-US,VS.80).aspx

After completing 1-6 of the above, the 'meat' of preparing for this exam should be based on digging deeper into the MSDN reference (9) for each topic in the exam syllabus (8) and studying it thoroughly. This should also include performing any walkthroughs and trying out the sample code in Visual Studio 2005.

MCPD vs MCSD - Which should I pursue?

My recommendation for those of you who are actively pursuing or considering pursuing the MCSD certification (the .NET 1.0/1.1 based premium certification) is as follows -

1. Those of you just starting to pursue or considering the MCSD need to consider switching gears and start preparing for MCPD instead ASAP; if you want to remain a cut above the rest.
2. Those of you nearing completion of your MCSD should complete your MCSD and then upgrade to MCPD:Enterprise Applications Developer which requires writing just 2 upgrade exams (70-553 & 70-554) instead of the 5 exams mentioned in my previous blog entry.

What is MCPD?

(For latest posts, please go to - http://mcpdguide.blogspot.com)

MCPD stands for Microsoft Certified Professional Developer. It is the latest certification by Microsoft targeted at Visual Studio 2005 (.NET 2.0) developers.

I will be primarily focussing on the MCPD: Enterprise Applications Developer certification path as that is the most challenging and by far the most beneficial credential from a career standpoint for a professional .NET developer. Those who want to specialize in Web or Windows client development will also find MCPD certification paths tailor made for them and will benefit from this blog as most of the exams are common.

The following exams need to be completed to achieve the MCPD: Enterprise Applications Developer credential -

1. .NET Framework 2.0 - Application Development Foundation (Exam 70-536)
2. Web Applications (Exam 70-528)
3. Windows Applications (Exam 70-526)
4. Distributed Applications (Exam 70-529)
5. Enterprise Applications (Exam 70-549)

None of the above exams are released yet. However, most are slated to be released by mid-2006. More information on MCPD can be found in the Microsoft Learning site here.

The first MCPD related exam expected to be released in February 2006 is Exam 70-528 which will be the starting point of our pursuit of the MCPD.