MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-502): Microsoft.Net Framework 3.5 Windows Presentation Foundation [With CDROM]

By Matthew A. Stoecker

Announcing an all-new Self-Paced Training Kit designed to help maximize your performance on 70-502, the required exam for the new Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0735625662
• ISBN13: 9780735625662
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Microsoft Press
• Length: 524 Pages
• Weight: 2.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 7.6" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

WPF Certification

This is very usual book for me. If you know the technology then this is the book to get your certification.

Passed the exam

The live exam is painful (I used up the entire 3 hours). I used this book as my main study guide. I also went through the accompanying sample test several times. I would also recommend going through (at least skimming) the Pro WPF book (MacDonald) before actually taking the test. The Pro book covers some details not mentioned in this study guide. Note that the actual exam questions are much harder than the sample questions in this book and sample test engine.

Really good guide for Exam 70-502

I just passed the 70-502 certification exam, though this book was not the only source for my preparation but I found to be very helpful in getting my certification. In addition to reading this book and practicing the provided sample tests I also read Programming WPF by Chris Sells and took Transcender practice tests. The thing I liked the most about this book is that I found it to be very readable, each chapter/lesson is small and comes with a nice lab to give you hands-on experience with the topic covered. I have read some of the other Self-Paced Training Kits and would rate this higher than the others. I read Programming WPF by Chris Sells before going through this book and found that this book to be very well-written, it succinctly explains concepts which were very hard to grasp from pages of text in the other book. My impression here might be a slightly incorrect because I was going through the topics second time and hence it might be more natural to understand things a little better. The practice exams with the book are good but the real questions in the exam were much harder than these sample tests so I would recommend using some more practice tests unless you have real world experience in using WPF. I have a good computer science background and have been working as a Software Consultant for years, since I haven't gotten a chance to use WPF on a real project my intention was to get the certification on my resume and demonstrate to the prospective client that I am capable of programming WPF. Real project experience cannot be replaced with a certification but now after going through preparation material and passing the exam I am very confident that I have enough understanding of the technology to use it on a real project. I would highly recommend this book for anybody going for Exam 70-502 certification.

Excellent for Certification

This book on 70-502 can help you toward the certification exam. It is excellent for its certification purpose, and in my opinion, moves someone toward intermediate programming ability with WPF and 70-502. By contrast, the book does not attempt or pretend to tackle complex installation or performance issues (for those important topics you can search the free MSDN documentation online, or also ask specific questions on the MSDN forums). The purpose of this book is a hands-on start using the .NET 3.5 Windows Presentation Foundation technology. Whatever technical errors will be dynamically listed on the Microsoft website errata. You can ask questions on the free MSDN forums. The pace of the book is moderated by specific chapter objectives, and each chapter is broken down into time sections for completion. I recommend working complete sections at a time (and don't start a new one if you don't have time to complete it). You can use the step-by-step exercises to gain some experience with the new technology. Here is a book outline: Chapter 1. WPF Application Fundamentals Chapter 2. Events, Commands, and Settings Chapter 3. Building the User Interface Chapter 4. Adding and Managing Content Chapter 5. Configuring Databinding Chapter 6. Converting and Validating Data Chapter 7. Styles and Animation Chapter 8. Customizing the User Interface Chapter 9. Resources, Documents and Localization Chapter 10. Deployment Anyone who has been using Visual Studio 2005 will have a quick transition to the similar interface in Visual Studio 2008 (required for .NET 3.5 technology). Also, experience with .NET 1.1 and 2.0 programming with Windows Forms is assumed to be the general foundation for moving into this new technology. It does help to understand design patterns, and for example the concept behind the Facade pattern. A key part of the Windows Presentation Foundation is removing the application logic from the interface (now coded in XAML, Extensible Application Markup Language). Developers can apply this discipline to previous .NET versions and to all programming, and this version encourages and supports this healthy practice. Going through the material, the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) has its own vocabulary, and a major reason for reading this book is less about learning how to program, and more about new terms. The exercises are structured, but only experience informed by design patterns provides a more stable foundation. I have programmed in many languages, and while nothing substitutes for experience, new technology by necessity requires new terms and terminology. For example, WPF adds "styles" and "animations" and it's important to know how Microsoft defines these terms so that you can effectively communicate with other developers. Again, a primary way to learn more (beyond this book) is to read .NET blogs, attend Microsoft conferences, and interact with other developers in the MSDN forums. It's important to know these terms to be

An excellent preparation guide

The content of this preparation / training guide is quite sufficient to pass the MCTS 70-502 exam. The information is thorough enough that even persons with relatively little experience programming WPF applications will find the topics covered comprehensive, if a bit scattered. Despite this, it is definitely to one's advantage to have made one or two applications using WPF in order to get a good feel for the capabilities of the technology. The content itself is a bit scattered and has many forward-references. This is, however, understandable given that WPF is a fairly holistic technology that can't be easily dissected. As such, two passes of the book are highly-recommended to ensure a solid understanding of the topics - examples presented in the beginning of the book will take on better meaning after a full pass of the book. The chapters tend to group content appropriately and in great depth. It is very easy to understand the workings of WPF, which is really what Microsoft Certification is all about - understanding, not memorizing. As with most training materials, there were some mistakes, but these were limited to typos in the text - if you stick to the C# track, you will see almost no errors; the Visual Basic examples were more error-prone. The (few) chapter summary questions are simple, yet require the reader to have paid attention, providing good checks for later review. In terms of learning gaps, there were some aspects of the test that were not covered in sufficient detail, but they can easily be corrected with some MSDN reading. For example, XPS document creation is not covered, though opening XPS documents is touched upon. By-and-large, everything is at least mentioned, though. The practice tests will accurately identify which areas you need to read-up on using MSDN. Coming to the point of the practice tests, the engine was much improved over the 70-536 test software. Many of the questions are representative of questions on the exam and you will find several areas not covered on the book showing up as questions - these are the areas that merit additional reading. There was only one error in the test questions, but if you read the explanation, you'll find that you are probably correct. Overall, I found this to be an excellent resource that, in the end, gave me an exceptional understanding of WPF and prepared me well for the exam.