Customer Reviews

McSd Test Success: Analyzing Requirements and Defining Solution Architectures

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

 

 

This book is better than the Sybex book by Ben Ezzell, and it is better than the Syngress Media book, but it still bears little resemblence to the actual exam.

This is probably more Microsoft's fault, since this book does cover the exam objectives from Microsoft's web site.

Microsoft should have made this the MCDBA Core exam instead of the MCSD Core exam. The exam is about 75% DBA related.

The best prep for this exam is the new Transcender Solution Cert 3.0 Beta, which they just released this week.

I managed to pass the exam this morning with a score of 879, but not because of this book.

This book did not teach me what I needed to know to pass the test. Instead it helped me organize what I understood intuitively about software develpment but could not express in words. This is a good roadmap; this plus a practice test will help the experienced developer pass this exam (I received a 904 and this book was my only study guide). I'm giving it 4 stars because it seemed incomplete without a good practice exam.

I used this book to study for the 70-100 exam and got 829 (meaning I passed). The fact is you'll fail 70-100 if you don't carefully read each question and/or you do not possess any working experience. This book in tandem with the demo exams from Microsoft and Transcender (why these are free I have no idea...they REALLY help!!) will provide you with enough info to do well on the exam. Of course, if you elect not to study carefully, nor bother to actually read the exam questions....well, no book can help with that.

This book was an incredible disappointment. It had very little information and as one of the beta testers for the 70-100 exam I can say with authority, "If you want to pass the 70-100 exam, this book is NOT for you". Here is an example of one of the problems with this book.

Total Pages: 312

Unit 1: Analyzing Business Requirements (42% of pages deal with topic material ... 58% with other junk)

a. Total Pages 42 b. Question pages 19 c. Topic Pages 18 d. Goal Pages 4

This problem is pervasive throughout the entire book.

Unit 2: 14 topic pages Unit 3: 16 topic pages Unit 4: 12 topic pages Unit 5: 17 topic pages Unit 6: 10 topic pages

For a grand total of 87 topic pages, the remainder is filled with inane questions of which this one is an example:

1-2 The problem domain is the part of a task that is your team's responsibility

a. True b. False

So, for $25.00 you get a book (loosely coined term in this case) 27% of which contains "topic information" that is not particularly overwhelming in its content. Look elsewhere if you want to pass the 70-100 test. This book will not help at all ... it is a total disrespect to the tree who gave up its life for the pages on which it is printed.

It was my 2nd tool during the preparation (the 1st one was Exam Cram Architectures) and it was a really good supplement. The variety of sample questions and case studies helped me become pretty confident. And finally, on the real exam I didn't meet anything unexpected.

70-100 is not a multiple choice question exam. It use case study and mostly database design. This book with true/false question will not prepare you with the actual exam.

70-100 is not a conceptual fact based exam that one can pass by cramming volumes of textual information. It is a test written for the experienced Microsoft technology Professional by experienced MS professionals. Ian and Bruce have done a fantastic job in putting together all the information relevant to the concepts whose real world applications are being tested in this exam. For the experienced pro who understands and has hands on experience with current MS technologies... this is the only book that is required to take and pass the test. No amount of conceptual studying can help you pass this test if you do not understand the applications of the concepts being tested.

I took the 70-100 this morning and passed it with a score of 880/1000. This book was the only reference that I used to prepare for the test and in all I spent around a week reviewing it. The sample test questions nearly match those that you will encounter in the test and are very well thought out and written.

Thanks Ian and Bruce... you guys have done a terrific job. Your book well deserves a 5 * rating !! :-))

This book isn't the greatest book to get to study for the exam, but it gives you a great summary and overview. The book is probably good to read through after you have gone through the full version SYBEX offers.

This book is definitely for the seasoned developer, and will seem incomplete and inadequate for others. I recommend you answer all of the questions after each chapter, and take the sample test. NOTE: There are errors with some answers.

Great book for domain experts minus some sections where they delve too deeply in the technology.

Personally, I found the methods discussed in this book are great when spec-ing out a new project both for the developer and the domain expert. I used much of the text as a template for approaching new projects.

FOR: Seasoned developers, Domain Experts NOT FOR: Desperate developer trying to pass test