Customer Reviews

MCAD Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic(R) .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio(R) .NET Exam Cram 2 (Exam Cram 70-305)

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2 star:		(3)
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If your goal is to pass the exam then this book is for you. This is not a book to learn ASP.NET. So you should not expect any basic stuff. Read other books to learn ASP.NET then use this to pass the exam. I highly recommend it. I read it and gave the tests at the end and passed in the first attempt.

I agree with some of the feedback here. This is not a book for learning ASP.NET. But then the book does state this early on. By all means read my review, even if for an experience, but I wouldn't until you have had an experience with ASP.NET and Visual Studio. To appreciate this book for any benefit you can find from it, go on a course first.

This book is intended only for exam preparation and in places, it serves it's purpose well here. The official Microsoft textbook for the course is just as thick and goes into tremendous detail and manages to use simple language in places. It doesn't convey the exam experience, but then it's not designed to! I made essential notes for the first 10 chapters and, typed up, I have 5 pages. The first 10 chapters comprise 200! The MS textbook has demonstrations, practices, and explanations, which explains why it is so thick.

From what I can tell, in sitting the exam Microsoft don't expect you to be a world class ASP.NET developer. Microsoft appear mainly concerned with ensuring you can concentrate in intricate detail (trying not to scare you: the difference between some understandings is just one word), think according to the understandings and concepts associated with the task at hand (and remember them), and that you are virtually fluent with the tools and the technologies. I wouldn't sit the exam if you haven't played with Visual Studio and made at least a simple Web application. Judging by some of the sample questions, Microsoft assume you have done so and because you gain knowledge in the process, such as realising that a button doesn't have to be coded for other parts of a Web form to work. Programming skill comes with time and Microsoft are kind enough to understand this.

One lesson I drew from a sample question is that I need to read the exam question *very carefully* and study the provided answers with the same care. The exam is multiple choice so the real test is making a judgement call. This is just one of the daily skills involved with programming.

If you know the ASP.NET technology to the dot (at least to the knowledge requirement of the official course book), can read code and follow what its doing (whether correct or not), think programmatically (the science of writing a program), applying all applicable knowledge in the process, and devise a solution provided it solves the problem, you should pass the exam with flying colours.

That's quite a read I know, but then so is this book and only attempt it if you have done a course on ASP.NET. And, in my opinion, only read it to test yourself for readiness; to get a feeler.

I passed the exam using this book. I use .Net at work and read one intro book before this one. This is a good book and good practice tests at the end of the book tested skills that the exam tested. I actually saw very similar questions on the test. Some of the sample questions did not come from the text of the chapters, which I see a lot of people complain about, but I was OK with that. They do explain in the opening chapter that this should not be used to learn the basics of the language.

One thing to note is that the Prep Logic exams included on the CD are awful. I've tried the ones that came with the 70-305, 70-306 and 70-310 books. All of them had blatant errors. For the 306 Prep Logic I did the first 5 questions and every one of the answers was blatantly wrong. Que really should dump those guys as the Prep Logic quality reflects poorly on their excellent books.

I have passed some Microsoft exams using Exam Cram 2 books as my sole study resource--that will always be the standard by which these books are judged. This book falls far short.

This book introduces you to the various topics on the 70-305 test, but does not cover a single topic in enough depth to be worthwhile. The review questions and practice exams are weak, also.

It looks like the book was rushed out the door. While there seems to be some good information in it, I was repeatedly frustrated with the end of the chapter tests asking questions that were covered nowhere in the book! Then when I did the first of the included Prep Logic tests, some of the answers were opposite of what was stated in the book. If you can't be consistent within the scope of the book it really throws it's reliably into question. Don't plan on using this as your sole resource.

Ok....just did tests at the end of chapters 1-3.....if your criteria for success is a correlation between the text and the test...........FORGET THIS BOOK....if your criteria is learning something new in the text of the chpters...this book may have redemption...I won't know till I take the test....but I will say this...it has new info I have not found elsewhere, but still don't know if this new info will help me pass the test, which is after all the main purpose of the book......SOOOOOOO.......where do I stand on this book?.....don't know yet at this point.....BUT........has info I have not found elsewhere so for 20 bucks it may be a deal

1st of all, the Author listed is wrong....minor point (right)...ok, I just read and took the tests at the end of Chapter 1 and 2...............NO CORRELATION BETWEEN THE TEXT AND THE TESTS.......this book has good info in the text of the chapters (I think...but how do I know it will help pass the tests?)....anyway, if you can read the Chapter text and then pass the questions at the end of the Chapter you are not only a Genius but also Clairvoyant, a Daja-vuist, and soothsayer all rolled into one...........ok.....so....book has info that I have not encountered elsewhere......so in that respect it may be helpful (throw enough stuff and somthing is bound to stick theory).....haven't finished book yet...maybe I'l just pass on the tests and be pleasantly surprised when I get done?