Customer Reviews

MCSD VB6 Distributed Exam Cram (Exam: 70-175)

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most reviewers agree that Thomas and Fox have produced a terrific book for this exam. It covers the daunting breadth of the exam material in a manner that is perfectly suited for review and pre-exam cramming.

Alone, this book will get you through the exam IF you are an experienced VB 6 developer AND you have worked a fair amount in distributed applications. If you are primarily a desktop developer, are experienced only in VB 5, or are newly attempting to master distributed applications development for this exam, you will likely need additional resources. It is true that if you memorize this book, you will probably pass the exam, but that expectation is unrealistic if much of the material is new to you.

My suggestion for exam candidates who are not already immersed in VB distributed development is that you first read one of the "big" exam books, to gain more comfort and understanding of the unfamiliar technologies, then use this Exam Cram to solidify the concepts and fill in the gaps. You may need to focus on component technology, COM and DCOM, in greater depth than is provided in this or most other exam study books. For that, both "Programming Components with Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0", by Eddon & Eddon (Microsoft Press), and "VB COM", by Lewis (Wrox), are ideal and very readable.

Since nearly every paragraph of this highly condensed book could be material for an exam question, it is unlikely that you will see more than a fraction of it on the exam. But "the exam" implies that there is a single exam, which is not the case. You will sit down to a randomly selected version of the exam, with its own selection of covered material. If you stumble into an adaptive version of the test, then its initial questions may determine your fate.

WEAKNESSES: A small number of technical errors or ambiguities may require you to find clarification elsewhere. They are usually easy to spot. In general, this book has relatively few errors for the genre. The chapter on application design could use more depth. Treatment of MTS will probably get you through related exam questions, but is inadequate for useful MTS development. ADO coverage is adequate for the exam only if you are already familiar with the technology. Each chapter could use a few more sample questions, though the few that are provided accurately reflect the nature of questions on the real exam.

STRENGTHS: For a book of this size, this is a nearly perfect review summary. Its tear-out "Cram Sheet" is well focused and a useful review in the hour prior to taking the exam. Chapter questions employ a simple layout technique that dramatically enhances the effectiveness of the questions. By framing each question within a thin box, the reader is able to easily cover the answer before reading the question. This sounds silly, but without the frame, your eye will see the answer while attempting to locate the end of the question. (Bravo to Coriolis for this! In books with the answers at the back of the book, the correct answers are usually boldfaced, so you see the answers for the next question while reading the explanation of the prior question.)

CONCLUSION: An excellent choice for a "small" book. Consider reading a "big" book first, and possibly following up with in-depth material on DCOM.

I took the 70-175 exam yesterday and passed. I used primarily this book, MSDN (gaps) and Transcender exams to study. This book covered all of the topics necessary to pass the exam.

I originally bought New Riders MCSD Training Guide to help study 70-175 and 70-176. Although helpful in passing the 70-176 exam, it was a little lite in the items needed for exam 70-175.

I would strongly recommend the Transcender exams in addition to this book. They really prepare you for the exam by providing practice exams that are very similar to the real thing.

Buy this book and Transcender practice exams.

I used this book along with Howard Hawhee's Training Guide and got a 928 which surprised me. The distributed exam that I took was quite a bit simpler than the desktop exam. Thomas is a skillful writer and obviously a master VB programmer. He packs a lot of information in a few pages while still maintaining a friendly, human tone. The tests at the end of each chapter and the big practice test at the end of the book are very valuable in preparing for the real thing. Also, don't pass over the preface to the sample test at the end of the book. It gives good test-taking advise although I was not courageous enough to use his technique of quickly reading through each of the questions before answering any of them. Thomas' book has one thing in common with other good (note the adjective) prep books in that they provide a comprehensive reference that is often superior to the reference books themselves. So this book stays on my shelf.

I just passed the VB Distributed test with an 885. I must say that there were many questions on my test that were exactly the same(or close enough) to the questions at the end of the chapters and at the end of the book. I would go so far as to say that the authors of this book had some how got a hold of the actually test and published it in their book. Actually, the questions in the book were harder than the actual test. I have seen almost all the books on the market for this exam and none of them have even come close to this one. It is precise, straight to the point(no fluff), and easy to understand. I must note, however, that this book is not for beginners. The only gripe I have is there were a couple of typos, but it is still well worth it. Now for the Desktop Exam.. Good Luck to all..

I am an MCSD who passed this exam with the help of this book. I borrowed this book from another MCSD that had already passed the this exam. I passed the book on to another person who passed the exam and is now an MCSD. I am basically saying that if you are serious about the exam, you will need to use this book, even if you use the Transender cds. "Its like that, and thats the way it is" -Run DMC

I have just passed my exam last week with 800 marks. I read the review and bought the book and I must admit that the author has done a great job. He has covered most of the topics very concisely.I also used Transcender product which is a must. I got a lot of questions which were identical in transcendar exam.

This book does not talk about RDO at all and in the exam there were 3 questions about it.If you use transceder then it covers some questions about RDO

One does not need any experience to pass this exam. I also used it to pass VB 6 Desktop exam, and the exam cram for desktop is not at all good compared to distributed. Read all the chapters completly.

I passed the test today with a score of 885 thanks to this book. I found about a dozen questions matched exactly (or close enough) to the ones in the book. Now to crack open the Architectures ExamCram....

I got a score of 942 and I owe it to this book. It's very well written and provides some real good pointers for additional information also. Just the book you need if you want to certify in record time.

It is not a beginner's book. It is very concise and the shortest way to pass in the 70-175 exam, but the reader must have some experience in VB. Some questions in the book are very similar to the ones in the exam. It is actually a helpful preparation guide for a VB exam, unlike the Microsoft Press book, that was my main resource for the 70-176. I just passed in that exam because I am an experienced VB programmer and studied COM by the MSDN.

The quiz at the end of the book is worth the cost of the book itself - about 8-10 questions on my exam were a close (if not exact) match to the ones on the book's exam. The chapters are well laid out and each one has review questions to reinforce the material. Keep in mind, however, that this book is not for beginners - you should either have some experience and/or it should should be used as a supplement to other study material. I supplemented with the Transcender exam, and it also provided about 8-10 questions which nearly matched those on my exam. Study hard - it isn't an easy exam, but this book will be a big help!