Customer Reviews

Desktop Applications with Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 MCSD Training Kit

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've read the book and done most of the exercises. I am using Windows NT server 4.0 so I had none of the problems described by a previous reader. However I do not have access to Visual Source Safe since this is shipped with the Enterprise edition and I am using professional edition.

Content: Appears to cover all the topics required for exam 70-016. However, having previously written and passed exam 70-024 (MFC) I would speculate that the book does not go into the detail necessary for the live microsoft exam. My feeling is that you will need much more material/experience than this book provides.

Also the test software provides only 20 questions. All tests consist of the same questions in different orders!

Quality: I have found many typos and places where descriptions do not agree exactly with code. This is not too much of a problem for anyone experienced with VC++. However, it would be quite confusing for someone new. Seems like book was put together in a hurry.

Summary: I think this book will provide an excellent beginning point and a good overview of things needed for the exam. I am planning to write exam 70-016 in a couple of weeks. I'll report then how well book correlates with exam.

I bought this book with no idea of what to expect on the exam. I have since taken the 70-016 exam and passed it. I have two years of experience with Visual C++ and MFC but had never used COM.

Overall I feel that this book did a good job of giving a general overview of the material on the test. A warning though, you will need to know more about COM than this book alone covers.

I also purchased the Exam Cram book for this exam and was very pleased with it. ( I also read the first five chapters of The COM / COM+ Primer and it cleared up a lot of COM issues for me )

For any one who can afford it I would highly recommend the practice exams that can be purchased from Trancender.

I'm going through this book and I'm on page 232. So far this book has contained many typos. In one place they had the code swapped between two different member functions. Also, class names are often wrong.

The other comment I have is that you will definately need to suppliment the material in this book with reading from another book like Programming Windows With MFC which is an excellent book. I think the book is good in that it shows you the type of information you are expected to learn at this level, but the typos are annoying.

I gave it 4 stars because the book did not help much with the exam itself. But it is definately worth the money. The two cds that come with the book bring an sql server 7.0 trial and a nice tutorial. The tutorial gives a good intro/review of C++ and OO, plenty of step by step examples and some nice videos that explain how messages are routed and how the document/view architecture works and a few others. The ratio of knowledge per dollar spent gets 5 stars in this book, but as far as help for the exam itself it gets 2.5 stars. This book alone will give you a 50% chance of passing the exam. I think that the test went a lot deeper into com/atl and the capabilities provided by specific interfaces than what the book talks about.

The training kit was a great help for me to pass exam 070-016. I like the author(s) relaxed and friendly approach. The material presented covers a lot of ground and maps quite well to the exam objectives I guess, but does not go into enough depht to make it a one stop for the exam.

I have little experience with VC++ and was using this book and exam to better my understanding. This book offered alot of good help, but like most MS Press training kits, is not focused on real exam preparation as much as on giving alot of details (even if the exam doesn't require those details).

This is my 6th MS exam (3 NT4 , 2 SQl7, and VC6). I have always used MS Press training books (I like the depth), Transcenders, and sometimes TestOut material. All my other exam scores have been over 800, but this exam was in the 500s (but enough to pass). I also spent more time going over this material.

The reality is VC++ a detailed subject area, and I blame my low score more on my lack of experience than on the book. Also for the first time, Transcenders only gave practice on half the material. I didn't use TestOut.

Remember also these exams are really geared for those already comfortable with the material. The book says it covers the exam material, not that it prepares you for the exam itself (though the title "... for Exam 70-015" may give you another impression).
The thing about the MS-Press books is you have something that is useful beyond the exam.

I gave the book 3/5 because I passed the exam mostly on this material. More exprerienced VC candidates will do well, I suppose. I thought it was difficult reading (alot of detail), not enough diagrams, and not enough summarizing of key exam points. Be prepared to go over the material, making your own "exam-geared" notes.

This book is MOC (Microsoft Official Curriculum) for preparing for the 70-016 exam: Building Desktop Applications with Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0. Considering the source, this should be the best book on the market, but it isn't by a long shot.

This book is, like the other Microsoft texts, an exercise-driven text. Each chapter contains one or more labs to be used to reinforce the material presented in the chapter. If you remember lab books from chemistry class - which contain some descriptive information followed by a step by step procedure, then you get the idea.

This book is neither an exam cram styled review, or an in depth exploratory text. This book is more a collection of lab-based tutorials.

If you are a skilled Visual C++ programmer, and are looking for a review, you will find your eyes glazing over while you read what you already know. The layout will also act like a comprehension speed bump.

On the other hand, if you are a neophyte, you are stepped through the process of building applications and applying the information. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of explanation.

This book alone will not prepare you to successfully pass the exam.

My advice: I would highly recommend getting the Visual C++ 6 Desktop Exam Cram book.

Just wrote and passed exam 70-016. As I suspected book does not go into enough depth for exam. Do not expect to pass the exam based on this book alone. However, I do think the book was very helpful for some aspects of the exam. You just need to use other more in depth sources.

I used this text to help me prepare for the exam I also used the Mastering MFC Development using Visual C++6. I also used the Transcender for my final prep and all of the tools together helped me pass the exam.

I hope this helps

I'd give it 0 stars, except Amazon's silly interface won't let me give below 1 star.

Despite the fact that the authors claim this book will work for Windows 95/98 as well as NT, and that you can use the "professional" edition of VC++, I found the following problems:

- They require the personal web server. This failed on every install while adding MTS elements to the registry in Win98.

- They require SQL server. The install from the CD supplied with the book failed with a "missing file" every time.

- They require Visual Source Safe, which despite their assurances does not ship with the professional edition of VC++.

I have only skimmed the subject material in the book. It looks so-so; there are certainly better books about many of the individual topics (e.g., MFC development) out there. But maybe its enough for the test.

All in all, I would have to say trying to install the necessary components to Windows 98 was very, very frustrating.