Customer Reviews

MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-502): Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5 Windows® Presentation Foundation

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I Just passed 70-502 this morning with 918/1000. I had to put lot of effort for the last 3 months being a novice in WPF. Finally it paid off.

Pros about this book:

1. The book is nicely divided into chapters and lessons so that reader will have some sense of achievement every day. I could complete 1 chapter in a day roughly and then corresponding exercises in 1-2 days. In total this book can be finished in 25-30 days at the most.

2. Exercises were good and if we do earnestly they would definitely pay off

3. This book gives us a sense about different kind of problems that WPF solves, where as other main stream WPF books some what confuses us. For example Converter, Validators, various Data Binding scenarios are explained in a very clear problem-solution approach rather than just blindly narrating to us.

4. Very minimal number of errors in the C# section

Cons about the book:

1. Striking issue with this book is it doesn't cover all the stuff that exam has. For example no mention of 3D. No mention of Hierarchical Data Templates (I got two questions in the exam), Annotations (I haven't got any in the exam but I heard few got), CSPROJ file entries and other obscure stuff that is hard to get any from any books that are available in the market except from MSDN

2. Even though Localization, Click Once and XBAP Security are covered the questions I got in the exam are beyond what is covered in the book

3. Some of the chapters are very unclear and won't give us a solid foundation.

4. Lesson questions are okay but they are more theory focused. Exam questions are more practical real world problem type.

To be honest with you all, this can help us achieve 80% of passing mark (700/1000). I still thoroughly studied Pro WPF in C# 2008 (MacDonald) cover to cover + read first Nathan for understanding.

I recommend this approach if you are a starter

1. Read Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed by Nathan first (at least first 3 parts until 2D)

2. Then read Pro WPF in C# 2008 (Don't start with this if you don't know what is WPF) cover to cover (Very hard thing but no choice)

3. Read this book one time thoroughly and second time just go through it. It will be enough.

4. Buy and practice selftestsoftware tests. They would be enough. Don't buy any other cheap stuff. I ended up paying to 3 companies but only selftestsoftware tests are kind of useful. They don't cover 100% either but very useful and practical

This book on 70-502 can help you toward the certification exam. It is excellent for its certification purpose, and in my opinion, moves someone toward intermediate programming ability with WPF and 70-502. By contrast, the book does not attempt or pretend to tackle complex installation or performance issues (for those important topics you can search the free MSDN documentation online, or also ask specific questions on the MSDN forums).

The purpose of this book is a hands-on start using the .NET 3.5 Windows Presentation Foundation technology. Whatever technical errors will be dynamically listed on the Microsoft website errata. You can ask questions on the free MSDN forums.

The pace of the book is moderated by specific chapter objectives, and each chapter is broken down into time sections for completion. I recommend working complete sections at a time (and don't start a new one if you don't have time to complete it). You can use the step-by-step exercises to gain some experience with the new technology.

Here is a book outline:
Chapter 1. WPF Application Fundamentals
Chapter 2. Events, Commands, and Settings
Chapter 3. Building the User Interface
Chapter 4. Adding and Managing Content
Chapter 5. Configuring Databinding
Chapter 6. Converting and Validating Data
Chapter 7. Styles and Animation
Chapter 8. Customizing the User Interface
Chapter 9. Resources, Documents and Localization
Chapter 10. Deployment

Anyone who has been using Visual Studio 2005 will have a quick transition to the similar interface in Visual Studio 2008 (required for .NET 3.5 technology). Also, experience with .NET 1.1 and 2.0 programming with Windows Forms is assumed to be the general foundation for moving into this new technology.

It does help to understand design patterns, and for example the concept behind the Facade pattern. A key part of the Windows Presentation Foundation is removing the application logic from the interface (now coded in XAML, Extensible Application Markup Language). Developers can apply this discipline to previous .NET versions and to all programming, and this version encourages and supports this healthy practice.

Going through the material, the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) has its own vocabulary, and a major reason for reading this book is less about learning how to program, and more about new terms. The exercises are structured, but only experience informed by design patterns provides a more stable foundation. I have programmed in many languages, and while nothing substitutes for experience, new technology by necessity requires new terms and terminology. For example, WPF adds "styles" and "animations" and it's important to know how Microsoft defines these terms so that you can effectively communicate with other developers. Again, a primary way to learn more (beyond this book) is to read .NET blogs, attend Microsoft conferences, and interact with other developers in the MSDN forums. It's important to know these terms to be able to communicate more effectively. Thus, this book functions as a program for your brain, mapping the .NET 3.5 basic-to-intermediate terminology to whatever previous experience you already have.

This book does not cover typical advanced production topics like versioning and working on development teams (for example). Microsoft wants its developers to not just read books but interact with a dynamic community. This book focuses on the fundamental specific lessons and objectives to get new developers hands-on experience and comprehensive (to the intermediate level) training. Microsoft developers and developer evangelists make themselves available to developers and they desire two-way communication and feedback about their products.

I will next list of the hardware and software requirements for running the exercises (from pages xxi and xxii):

Hardware Requirements
The following hardware is required to complete the practice exercises:
* A computer with 1.6-gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor
* A minimum of 384 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM)
* A minimum of 2.2 gigabytes (GB) of available hard disk space is required to install VS 2008. Additionally, 50 megabytes (MB) of available hard disk space is required to install the labs.
* A DVD-ROM drive
* A 1024*768 or higher resolution display with 256 colors or more
* A keyboard and Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device

Software Requirements:
The following software is required to complete the practice exercises:
* One of the following operating systems:
-- Windows Vista (any edition except Windows Vista Starter)
-- Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or later (any edition except Windows XP Starter)
-- Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 or later (any edition)
-- Windows Server 2003 R2 or later (any edition)
-- Windows Server 2008
* Microsoft Visual Studio (VS) 2008 (A 90-day evaluation edition of Visual Studio Professional Edition is included on a DVD that comes with this training kit)

I recommend obtaining at least Visual Studio 2008 Professional if you are serious about developing applications with this technology. Even without this book, you can currently (as of November 2008) obtain a free 30 day trial version from the Microsoft website. More advanced material is abundant in many developer blogs, and circulated through conferences. Active developers should plug into a real-time community through online forums, blogs, webcasts, and conferences.

The live exam is painful (I used up the entire 3 hours). I used this book as my main study guide. I also went through the accompanying sample test several times. I would also recommend going through (at least skimming) the Pro WPF book (MacDonald) before actually taking the test. The Pro book covers some details not mentioned in this study guide. Note that the actual exam questions are much harder than the sample questions in this book and sample test engine.

The content of this preparation / training guide is quite sufficient to pass the MCTS 70-502 exam. The information is thorough enough that even persons with relatively little experience programming WPF applications will find the topics covered comprehensive, if a bit scattered. Despite this, it is definitely to one's advantage to have made one or two applications using WPF in order to get a good feel for the capabilities of the technology.

The content itself is a bit scattered and has many forward-references. This is, however, understandable given that WPF is a fairly holistic technology that can't be easily dissected. As such, two passes of the book are highly-recommended to ensure a solid understanding of the topics - examples presented in the beginning of the book will take on better meaning after a full pass of the book. The chapters tend to group content appropriately and in great depth. It is very easy to understand the workings of WPF, which is really what Microsoft Certification is all about - understanding, not memorizing.

As with most training materials, there were some mistakes, but these were limited to typos in the text - if you stick to the C# track, you will see almost no errors; the Visual Basic examples were more error-prone. The (few) chapter summary questions are simple, yet require the reader to have paid attention, providing good checks for later review.

In terms of learning gaps, there were some aspects of the test that were not covered in sufficient detail, but they can easily be corrected with some MSDN reading. For example, XPS document creation is not covered, though opening XPS documents is touched upon. By-and-large, everything is at least mentioned, though. The practice tests will accurately identify which areas you need to read-up on using MSDN.

Coming to the point of the practice tests, the engine was much improved over the 70-536 test software. Many of the questions are representative of questions on the exam and you will find several areas not covered on the book showing up as questions - these are the areas that merit additional reading. There was only one error in the test questions, but if you read the explanation, you'll find that you are probably correct.

Overall, I found this to be an excellent resource that, in the end, gave me an exceptional understanding of WPF and prepared me well for the exam.

I've passed the exam last week and scored 1000/1000. This book was my main resource to study for the exam and I read twice end to end.

I would have given this book 4 stars but two main reasons make me give it only 3 stars:

1. There are a few topics not covered in the book.

The book doesn't cover 3D. I got a couple of questions on the exam about this. You need to know at least that all 3D objects are composed of triangles and how to draw one. You need to know how to position the camera so that your object is visible and which types of cameras there are. Basics about 3D.

The book doesn't cover Hierarchical Data Templates. I got one question on this. Not as bad as not covering 3D since you might be able to get the answer right if you use some common sense.

Some topics are barely covered. Namely XPS and printing. But then you get quite a few questions about it in the tests program for which the book provides no answers.

2. The tests program that comes on the CD has too many flaws

This will drive you nuts and make you loose quite a few hours, especially if you're new to WPF and the .Net world.

There are questions in which the answer is wrong (at least half a dozen).
There are questions in which the answer is correct but the explanation is wrong.
There are questions in which the question text contradicts itself in the requirements.
There are questions quite unclear (even after retaking them all again and recognizing my wrong interpretations the first time).
There was a question in which two of the answers were equal.

Part of these errors seem to be bugs in the tests program.

The questions don't resemble that much those that you get in the exam.

On the positive side:
- The book is well organized, the language is clear and I've found valuable the "Real World" examples at the beginning of each chapter.
- Each chapter has a review, some questions, case scenarios and suggested practices providing lots of opportunities to practice.
- The tests program has a large number of questions and you can choose the exam objectives you want to practice.

When I was done with this book I decided to try some other tests software and books, and that's when I kind of panic for realizing the shortcomings in this book and the possibility of having to start all over with another book.

So I've read also "Pro WPF in C# 2008 - Windows Presentation Foundation with .NET 3.5" by Matthew MacDonald. That's where I learned the 3D. This is a good book after you're past the complete beginner level.

In conclusion, this book is good to get you started, especially for beginners.
Yet, you should complement it with some more tests software and other books. Don't rely on it alone for the exam.

I just passed the 70-502 certification exam, though this book was not the only source for my preparation but I found to be very helpful in getting my certification. In addition to reading this book and practicing the provided sample tests I also read Programming WPF by Chris Sells and took Transcender practice tests.

The thing I liked the most about this book is that I found it to be very readable, each chapter/lesson is small and comes with a nice lab to give you hands-on experience with the topic covered. I have read some of the other Self-Paced Training Kits and would rate this higher than the others. I read Programming WPF by Chris Sells before going through this book and found that this book to be very well-written, it succinctly explains concepts which were very hard to grasp from pages of text in the other book. My impression here might be a slightly incorrect because I was going through the topics second time and hence it might be more natural to understand things a little better.

The practice exams with the book are good but the real questions in the exam were much harder than these sample tests so I would recommend using some more practice tests unless you have real world experience in using WPF.

I have a good computer science background and have been working as a Software Consultant for years, since I haven't gotten a chance to use WPF on a real project my intention was to get the certification on my resume and demonstrate to the prospective client that I am capable of programming WPF. Real project experience cannot be replaced with a certification but now after going through preparation material and passing the exam I am very confident that I have enough understanding of the technology to use it on a real project.

I would highly recommend this book for anybody going for Exam 70-502 certification.

This book is actually a gentle hands on tutorial on the basics of WPF with the added bonus of review questions at the end of each chapter and in exam simulation software that comes with the book. I don't know how tough the real exam is, I can only tell you this text covers only the very basics of WPF, and I would be surprised if this was enough to pass a certification exam.. Even having absorbed everything in this book, you would still be at the level of a rookie, far from the mastery level required from a certified professional.
But still, I would recommend this book to any developer who 's totally new to WPF and loves learning by doing labs. Also a decent book for teaching an introductory WPF class. I just wish it has some advanced material on design of professional looking GUIs.

This is very usual book for me. If you know the technology then this is the book to get your certification.

First of all, I would like to say this book achieves it's purpose - prepare you for the exam. Covers all the topics in brief and concise manner. I had worked for close to a year on a project but had moved on to other areas in the last six months. Had been postponing the exam for a while, but when MS & Prometetric announced the free second shot offer, couldn't resist any further. Took the exam yesterday and cleared it easily. Apart from a couple generic .NET questions which dealt with isolated storage all questions were related to the study material in the book,

The chapters are not organized perfectly for a beginner. You see data-binding expressions before you know what it is - with a side note that it would be explained later. If you would like to learn deeper Pro WPF is a better book. I own that book too but it does not cover all the required topics for the exam. The CD that comes along with this book has a PDF format of the book and a test engine as well. The questions in the test engine are much tougher and would help you prepare well for exam. There is also a voucher on the last few pages of the book that would give you 15% off on your exam registration fee. I bought this book after I registered, would probably use it for my next exam.

WPF is a major overhaul of Windows forms. This book does a good job of providing a broad ouline of the subject. Obviously the subject is so vast that one book cannot cover everything. Content wise the book and the exam are geared towards business applications. The book does not address 3-D at all and many topics like animation and path are just about touched upon. But it does provide extensive references primarily to Microsoft web sites, although a few other references are cited as well. In "real life", I would recommend you complement this book with one that covers the specific topic of your need, in more depth. (Charles Petzold comes to mind) Some knowledge of C#/.NET is a prerequisite for this book.
Coming up with reasonable questions at the end of every chapter is such a difficult job that most authors don't do it. This is where the training kit books excel. The practice tests help to identify the gaps in your understanding. There are mistakes in the test that are addressed in its errata website which continues to be updated.
If you are taking the exam the book is well worth it given that it comes with a 15% discount on the exam feee.