Customer Reviews

MCPD Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-549): Designing and Developing Enterprise Applications Using the Microsoft .NET Framework (Certification Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

While these books are useful as a refresher for people who want to sit the Microsoft exams that they prepare you for, they have their limitations. Do not expect that you can learn how to develop software in .NET using these books only. A reasonable solid background in software development and the Microsoft environment is an absolute requirement as the books often skip over topics and issues that the exercises require knowledge of. The instructions in the books on how to use the DVD don't always match the DVD itself and you'll find yourself having to scan through the contents of the disk to find the examples, code snippets or images they refer to. Sometimes the information is just plain wrong.

Having said all that, with the appropriate background and level of knowledge the books are still useful to prepare you for the exams and you will learn things you didn't know (or had forgotten).

I purchased this book for Microsoft certification guidance. (As there aren't many good books in portuguese).
I'd rate it 4 starts, because it's a really good book.
They usually start with easy³ stuff, as adding forms and stuff like that.
But they go deeper as you read the book.
I do recommend it.

At first, while skimming through the pages I thought this was a much lower quality product than some of the O'Reilly books I had read.

But after reading and doing the exercises I realized that Microsoft is spot on.

They have a good approach to teaching which is going by: "Understanding rather than Knowing" and by giving you the opportunity to manually test everything yourself to integrate the concepts. I believe this is the only right way to teaching stuff.

Plus, it allows to do the certifications at a tenth of the price the courses would costs.

I used this book as my primary study guide for the exam.
I passed 1st go with score of 875. So it definitely pointed me in the right direction.
The self-test software is really REALLY useful to test how ready you are.
Though you have to remember that this exam is intended for people with working experience, you can't expect to pass just by reading a book.

Some previous reviews say the book is not sufficient. The question is. Do you really think you can buy a book, read it, practice it and make the highest web application certification exam ? It does not seem to be logical does not it ? The 70-547 exam contains also areas from "architect" point of view. So I want to say you have to have the basics already in your blood. The book is very good.

I'm amazed that Microsoft let this book leave the press. I have never seen such a disconnect between what the book teaches and what is on the actual test. Not only that, but on the practice exams provided by the book, there are questions that are NEVER covered by the book, and questions where the book tells you one way, and the test tells you it's wrong and to do it another way. The book is riddled with inconsistencies, typos, and code errors. I have bought other Study Guides from Microsoft and have been very happy with them. This one is not worth the money, and should be re-written. If you can find another study guide for the 70-547, then do so. Or at least wait until the second edition of this book comes out.

IMHO:
- Good topics explanation.
- Good code samples.
- Useful lessons reviews at the end of each chapter.
Globally: very useful for my self-placed training.

I bought the 3 pack of books. I knew each book inside and out, could ace their practice exams. These are NOT good certification books. Most of the questions on the exam are not covered in these books. Maybe it is deliberate that Microsoft wants experience to be how you know the answers because you certainly will be ill prepared if you rely on the contents of these Microsoft Press books and tests to prepare you. I did pass 528 and 536 and I'd say maybe 6 questions were related to the reading material and the rest were just things I already knew. The 528 book was probably the best of the 3 with 537 seriously lacking and 547 being horribly inadequate.

If you want to make MCPD exam, Microsoft certified professional developer then you should pass through the MCPD Self-Paced Training Kit by Microsoft authors, which will surely pave the way for you to achieve the knowledge you need to become a professional windows or web developer. No matter what type of test you want to make whether VB.NET or C# the kit will guide you in step by step lessons that will really drag you from the world of nothing to the new world of professional software developer. Actually as I achieved huge success by getting MCPD, I rated the kit with 5 starts as it deserves the five stars rating; now I recommend the book for all of you.

Este libro seria muy util si no tuviera tantos errores, en la programacion, la mayoria de de los ejercicios no funcionan