Customer Reviews

MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual C# .NET: ... Basic(r) .Net and Microsoft Visual C#(tm) .N

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I've worked through all three MCAD/MCSD study guides from MSPress. I was satisfied with the other two, but I think the wheels fell off on this one.

The content is a cut and paste from the .Net Framework SDK, with very minor changes. For example, compare the following extracts on processing SOAP messages. One from the .Net Framework SDK and the other from the text of the book. They are almost word for word:

(from the .NET Framework SDK)
Process the SOAP messages
In the class derived from SoapExtension, the core piece of implementation is the SoapExtension.ProcessMessage Method. This method is called several times by ASP.NET at each of the stages defined in the SoapMessageStage enumeration. Each time SoapExtension.ProcessMessage Method is called, a SoapMessage, or a class deriving from it, is passed in with information about the SOAP message at that particular stage. If the SOAP extension is running with an XML Web service, then a SoapServerMessage is passed in. If the SOAP extension is running with an XML Web service client, then a SoapClientMessage is passed in.

(from the text of the book - p.449)
Processing SOAP Messages
In the class derived from the SoapExtension class, the implementation of the SoapExtension.ProcessMessage method is the most important stage. ASP.NET calls this method several times at every stage in the SoapMessageStage enumeration. Whenever the SoapExtension.ProcessMessage method is called, a SoapMessage object or a class deriving from it is passed to the method with information about the SOAP message at that particular stage. If the SOAP extension is executing with an XML Web service, a SoapServerMessage is passed as the parameter. If the SOAP extension is running with an XML Web service client, a SoapClientMessage is passed as the parameter.

I don't have a problem with the authors leaning on the content in the SDK. After all, Microsoft own the copyright and they are entitled to do so. However, there is not much value add. At least the code samples in the SDK work. You can see how by trimming down the original code samples from the SDK into the smaller code snippits in this book the Authors turned functioning bits of code into ones with syntax errors. (such as the snippits on p.448 and 450).

The .Net Framework SDK is a free download from Microsoft. This book costs $170 Australian. It is poor value.

On the positive side it does present a good structure for preparing for the exam.

For explanation of the more difficult concepts I just can't go past the "Visual Basic.Net Core Reference" from Balena and MSPress. Every time I have got a question it has got the answer.

I read this book for the purpose of Exam 70-310 and I was reasonably satisfied with it. I've passed and am an MCAD for .NET now. It has it's share of errors and confusing portions, but they do not outweigh the general usefulness of this book.

The book covers all objectives for the exam, although skimps on details. I learnt more from the labs at the end of the chapters than from the text. The depth of material will perhaps suffice for the exam but will fall short if you try to develop real world applications using this material. This book will not serve as a reference for you after the exam.

It starts off with an overview of .NET Framework, which isn't quite deep but gives a good introduction. The discussion of Windows Services comes next and is quite complete. The book then talks about Serviced Components and .NET Remoting Objects. Both of these sections are not that clear and require supplemental reading. ADO.NET is discussed well, but the discussion about manipulating XML data is again weak. The book ends with 3 chapters on XML Web services which are well written.

The practice test accompanying the book is nothing like the real test, so if you like to take practice tests, you should look elsewhere.

All in all, with all it's peculiarities, I found that it works for the purposes of the exam.

Just like I did with the first two .NET exams, I am reviewing this book after taking the exam. I am pursuing the MCSD.NET to get proficient and comfortable with .NET as I can hardly discipline myself to study it on my own. For that purpose, this book was sufficient. I don't see why it shouldn't work for you as well.

The book starts with a list of requirements for 70-320 and lists which chapters address them. Which is a good idea because it attempts to eliminate some of the discrepancies that I have encountered between what Microsoft lists as requirements, what curriculums and tutorials teach and what is actually tested on the exams. Ideally this list would serve as a checklist for my readiness for the exam but instead I used it to mark what this book covers thoroughly, just enough or poorly.

And there is plenty of poor coverage. The main fallback is that although the book covers most requirements it does not always go in depth. I had to pick up another book for a better idea on COM+. I think ADO.NET was best covered in the guides for Windows and Web Applications. The same applies for Tracing and Debugging. For these topics I found the above-mentioned literature and the MSDN library more effective.

Some chapters provide only a summary of the topic but that seemed to be enough for my exam. For example, XML schema is a huge topic but this book only gives a definition of it, an example and how to validate an XML document against its schema. And on my exam nothing more was expected. The same goes for the chapter on Deployment and Installation.

I liked the chapters on Remoting, XSLT and the Advanced Web Services Programming. The topics themselves are interesting and I felt this book covered them quite well. I liked that the book was full of notes, summaries and chapter reviews. I went through them one hour before the exam.

The lab for chapter 5 on ADO.NET was cool. You're dealing with a database, you have to deploy two COM+ components, write a remotable object and configure all this via a windows service. Of course, my lab did not work by following the steps in the book. But once I understood the project, I studied all the concepts by themselves and then worked hard to get them to work together. You should practice such combinations! For e.g. calling one web service from another, writing SOAP extensions and using an XSD to validate the messages or trace them to the event log, etc.

Most other labs were satisfactory. I got more disappointed the more code the labs asked me to copy and paste and the less they explained what the code does and how it is written. I had to break down such code by myself.

Unlike the Web Applications guide, the sample tests in this book can be paused. I was also glad to see not only radio button questions but also checkbox ones too, just like in the real exam. Most questions do reinforce the lessons and labs; some however were just too simple and should have been combined with others or omitted altogether. The question that asks the URL to generate the WSDL for a web service is an example.

I took the sample exam without pausing and I failed miserably. Then I reviewed and practiced on the topics and tried again. I also took the exam with the book in my hand and paused after every question and researched the topic to find the answer. Finally, by the fifth time I passed the exam every time.

I've passed five MCSD tests now and used MS Press books for all the tests. This book typifies the strengths and weaknesses of the MSPress products.

The good thing about the book is that it covers some topics quite well with a conciseness and brevity that I liked becaue I could get a grasp of things in a minimal amount of time. A lot of the code samples are good, too. I've seen programming books that have pages and pages of sample code that really only illustrate a small point. The samples in this book don't make you wade through a lot of extranneous stuff to see what's going on.

But the quality of the material lacks consistency. Some explanations are quite poor and you soon find yourself scrounging around for other material. It's not reasonable to expect one of these cert books to tell you absolutely everything you need to know to pass a test but they should give you a clear idea of what you need to do to prepare and you don't get that here.

It's a shame that Microsoft doesn't do a better job with these exam prep guides.

This is the third book in Microsoft's MCAD/MCSD series that I bought and the only thing persistent with these series is the degrading quality of the material. Errors, though not as abundant as in 'Developing Web Applications...', are still present, and unfortunately in several key areas, including the practice test. I would not recommend this book as the primary reading material to anyone. Use it along with other books or MSDN Online only, or just to get acquainted with what sections the Microsoft's exam might be covering.

I am surprised by the reviews for this book. The other MCAD 70-320 study guide by Kalani had overwhelmingly good reviews so I bought that initially instead of this one. True, Kalani's book was more verbose but that is where it bogged down. Everything had an exercise and trying to review a layout of features is difficult. The other book would be good for someone who was starting from scratch and did not know the subject material at all.
Okay, enough about the other book. Like other MS Press MCAD study books, this one is almost in elaborated outline. But surprisingly that fits my study habits. I learn the material from practice either from daily job work, MSDN walkthroughs or other books. When I am ready for studying for the test, I use this book and then if I don't understand something I use MSDN or the other books to reinforce the material. The thing I like about this book is that it has a brief review synopsis all in one place. Is it the end all and be all (silver bullet) for studying for the test? No, you still have to know your material. I also use MeasureUp.com to evaluate myself over the last six weeks before the test, then use their MSDN references and this book to reinforce things I've missed. It has worked for the other two MCAD tests!

The entire book comes directly from the VS.NET online documentation. Though this is disappointing, what makes the book an embarassment is the poor editing. The authors' attempt to condense the material renders much of it inadequate for explaining the concept at hand. Many, many topics feel incomplete, as if little thought went into the editing process. Important explanations (from the online doc) are excised. Others are sloppily paraphrased. I've had to constantly refer elsewhere for clarification. I wish I would have simply studied the online documentation, using the exam requirements as a guideline. This book is a waste of time.

The book is lengthy and poorly writen. The book spends a lot of time on topics not directly related to .NET while .NET related topics are not covered in a proper depth. I am disappointed.

The Good:
Frist chapter on Windows Service has been explained very well with adequate examples. Writer knew his stuff. You don't need any supplementary sources for windows service

The Bad:
All the chapters other than the first one are terrible. Incomplete information. The chapter on remoting is a total chaos, it will leave big holes in your understanding. I had to read through MSDN and other books to really learn the materials. It was waste of money, but more valuably waste of my time.

This book may help you pass the exam (it worked for me there), but the book has some flaws. In particular, the exam covers quite a bit more than Web Services. Windows Services, COM, and COM+ are all "Server Components" covered by the exam, but the book fails to explain much about them adequately. On the plus side, it does present Web Services pretty well.

The bottom line is this book will help you pass the exam, but leave you with some holes in your knowledge and understanding.