MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-515): Web Applications Development with Microsoft® .NET Framework 4 [Paperback]

Tony Northrup (Author), Mike Snell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0735627401 | ISBN-13: 978-0735627406 | Edition: Pap/Psc/Co

Ace your preparation for the skills measured by MCTS Exam 70-515—and on the job. Work at your own pace through a series of lessons and reviews that fully cover each exam objective. Then, reinforce and apply what you’ve learned through real-world case scenarios and practice exercises. This official Microsoft study guide is designed to help you make the most of your study time.

Maximize your performance on the exam by learning to:

• Program a new application; add and configure server controls
• Manage data input, user state, and security
• Implement data source controls and data-bound controls
• Use AJAX-enabled forms and scripts
• Create and consume XML Web services and WFC services
• Design for accessibility, globalization, and mobility
• Debug, deploy, monitor, and troubleshoot applications

Then, assess your skills with the practice tests on CD. You can work through hundreds of questions using multiple testing modes to meet your specific learning needs. You get detailed explanations for right and wrong answers—including a customized learning path that describes how and where to focus your studies.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tony Northrup, MCTS, MCSE, CISSP, Microsoft MVP, has written several SELF-PACED TRAINING KITS and coauthored WINDOWS SERVER 2008 NETWORKING AND NETWORK ACCESS PROTECTION.

Mike Snell, MCPD, MCSD, is a Microsoft Regional Director with 20 years of software development and consulting experience. He has written several books on Visual Studio and .NET.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1008 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; Pap/Psc/Co edition (December 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735627401
• ISBN-13: 978-0735627406
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.6 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Award-winning author and photographer Tony Northrup (MCITP, MCPD, MCSE, MCTS, CISSP) has published more than 30 books covering technology and photography. Among other titles, Tony is author of Stunning Digital Photography and Windows 8 Inside Out. Tony lives in Waterford, CT with his wife and daughter.

You can learn more about Tony by liking his Facebook photography page at http://www.facebook.com/NorthrupPhotography, following him on Twitter (@TonyNorthrup), viewing his photography portfolio at www.northrupphotography.com, or emailing him at [e-mail].

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent study guide - doesn't (and can't) cover everything June 29, 2011

By Donald

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I just completed my study and passed the 70-515 exam today. (820/1000) I used this book along with two different practice exams. I read the book cover to cover and took notes. I was cursing at the test screen today as I felt there were several questions that just were not fair but I guess I pulled it out. Anyway, as far as the book goes it DOES cover A LOT of what is on the exam and it really is the only self study guide I can see on the market. I have been using ASP.Net since it was in beta back in 2001 but not on a daily basis.

I would warn everyone that the MVC section of the test seemed to be at least 30% or so of the questions and many of the questions where things simply not covered in this book. Also I would find some other guides for JQuery - particuarly about the $ajax/JSON type calls. There were alot of Ajax/WCF client scripting questions in general too and those on User/Web controls.

The Microsoft exam covers such a huge scope of material that any one book (even at 1,000 pages) isn't going to cover it all. But this book really is a great basis for study. I also recommend doing the practice excercises - especially those on the Web Controls, MVC and DataSources.

The book did a great job on two areas in particular - Web/User controls (espcially templated ones) and also on the DataSource objects that you can drop into pages. Also the book's explanation of the Linq queries was very good.

I didn't use the practice exam that came with the book so I can't comment on it. Further, the questions in each chapter of the book are definitely useful but nothing like those on the exam.

All in all I would say this book covers 70% of the exam, 20% is going to come from extra study on MVC/JQuery/Ajax and the other 10% is a complete mystery to me.

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Training Kit is Incomplete and Not Aligned with Exam Questions April 25, 2011

By justdan23

Format:Paperback

When I first got this book, I believed it was a good resource because it was published by Microsoft Press and was likely being reviewed my Microsoft to be accurate as a 'Training Kit' for their MCTS Certification Exam.

After reading the book, I am disappointed in Microsoft Press. This book is not properly aligned with the creators of the MCTS Exam Questions to ensure it is a true Self-Study Guide covering all required material to help with passing the Exam.

This book does not adequately prepare you for the MCTS Certification Exam and lacks coverage of all material. As another has mentioned in a review of this book, the book does not cover all content required and includes chapters of material not on the exam (like the AJAX .NET Toolkit). One example of required material that is missing is the 'QueryExtender' that is not even mentioned. jQuery material is also minimal for what is required.

I'm posting this review in hope to provide feedback to Microsoft to help improve their Training Kits for future exams.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent exam prep, even when upgrading January 9, 2011

By Michael J. Mcmahon Jr.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Having completed the Microsoft ASP.NET exam for .NET 3.5, I was eagerly awaiting the release of this book so that I could take the latest version of the exam. I was pleased to find that I could read this book (either via the Kindle edition, the PDF that comes with the book, or via the O'Reilly download) on my Kindle. Bear in mind, however, that the supplemental content that you can download from O'Reilly or Amazon (via O'Reilly) doe snot contain the practice exams. Those exams are only available withthe printed version on the CD - at least, as of the writing of this review.

This revision of the book is phenomenal. Looking back on the prior edition for the .NET 3.5 ASP.NET certification exam, I recall feeling that the book left me prepared, but not completely. With that version, I recall several questions that left me guessing the correct answer and wondering why I'd not seen any reference to the topics in the book. In this revision, all those areas missing in the prior edition are addressed very specifically. Moreover, there was only one question on the exam that made me feel a topic area was not addressed - a significant improvement, though this is probably largely the result of the new topics added to this exam.

In terms of content, this study guide hits every entry on the exam checklist in quite a bit of detail. The organization makes a reat deal of sense, with entries organized by topic, not simply control type or frequent use. There are minimal forward references (a drastic improvement over some of the books from the .NET 3.5 study guide series), providing a complete understanding of each topic in one section. One point I will make is that the information density of the text and examples is quite high. So high, in fact, that you should not skim the content of think that you can afford to miss a paragraph without mising an important point on the exam. The examples and text work well together to give very comprehensive coverage to every topic. You'll notice quite a few segments of text from the previous book, especially in areas where there was no change between ASP.NET 3.5 and ASP.NET 4.0, making this version a comfortable upgrade from the prior (if you read it).

The practice exam provided on the CD is typical of test kit exams. In fact, the only changes are to some of the questions to target special features of .NET 4.0. As is typical, there are some questions that are incorrect or poorly worded, but there are relatively few of them. The test exam provides a very nice preparation for the real exam, encouraging additional reading or brief reviews (e.g. the ASP.NET page lifecycle) where the book may potentially come up short (though in my experience, the book itself was quite sufficient).

In summary, this book is an excellent preparation guide for the Microsoft 70-515 exam. The content has been updated and reorganized from the previous version to address the new exam topics adn features for ASP.NET 4.0. I highly recommend this for anybody that would like to upgrade their skills, stay current, or simply find out about ASP.NET 4.0, MVC, and everything in-between.