Customer Reviews

Solution Architectures MCSD Study System (MCSD Certification)

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

 

 

As a treatment of Windows architecture, this is a thorough and in-depth reference. However, even with total recall, this book won't get you through 70-100, since 85% of the 3 hour exam is occupied with extracting poorly articulated solution requirements from verbose "interviews" with the "client's" employees (everyone from the cleaning lady to the CEO). Today's test (not the old Architectures tests) is much more about synthesizing a solution model from pitilessly real-world requests. Yes, there is an occasional question related to lollipop diagrams and IUnknown, so some discussion of Windows architecture is needed. But 70-100 is about Solutions architecture.

Another caution about this book is the C++ centric nature of many of the explanations. If you're a C++ person, you need this to do your job -- but not to pass 70-100. One of the author's stated goals is to broaden your education beyond the needs of the exam. He succeeds in doing this, but at the expense of the book's focus on your passing the exam. Had I not already read several 70-100 exam books, and already taken the exam, this book would scare me to death. (I'm primarily a VB person.) Chapter 1 reminded me of reading Toynbee's "Study of History". Every clarification contained more undefined terms than the statement being clarified. (Unlike Toynbee, none were in Greek, Latin, German, French, or Aramaic.)

If you are a C++ developer or just plain curious about the nuts and bolts of Windows architecture, I would strongly recommend this book. If VB is your strength, Cornish, et al. would be a better choice for preparing for 70-100.

In either case, the poorly chosen question metaphors used in 70-100, such as the "build a tree" type question, may cause even the most knowledgeable to stumble. While success in other Microsoft exams is more or less determined by your knowledge, that is definitely not the case with 70-100. Thorough knowledge alone is not enough. Along with whichever exam prep book(s) you choose, I would encourage you to download at least the free DEMO of the Transcender test software.

Conclusion: excellent reference book on Windows architecture, but not the best choice for most 70-100 exam candidates.

It's often said that you should not judge a book by its cover, and certainly this book is among those that keeps the phrase in such high demand. Even ignoring that chapter 1 - 16, and 21 of this book are almost completely irrelevant to the subject at hand, the 70-100 exam (Appendix A itself lists the objectives of the 70-100 set by Microsoft, and all of them refer to chapters 17-20); If the rest of the book (Chap.17-20) had been fairly useful and to the point this book might possibly deserve a two or three star rating. But sadly, the book is disorganized in its presentation and lacks in content. The case studies, which are most important part of preparing for the exam are relegated to appendix C instead of within the chapters themselves. On the issue of content, here is an example of the author's reply to the issue of Total Cost Ownership (TCO)- The case study is not a production system and TCO is not applicable - The rest of the TCO is a diatribe on why one should not buy no-name brand hardware, hardly addressing the issues. Granted the author is not happy with microsoft and its many faults (indeed I whole-heartedly agree with him on the microsoft issue). However, this book should not be the sounding board for his own complaints, which too often distract him from addressing the exam itself. Reading the book one gets the sense of "I don't like microsoft and their approach, so I am going to suggest my own way which is better, and we won't have to worry about the microsoft thing known as the 70-100 exam." Instead, in writing the book the author could have done two things: either rename the book to "The Lexicon of COM, ODBC, and ADO terms with an addendum on the 70-100 exam - Solution Architectures" or he could have paid more attention to why people buy the book the reason that is spelled out on its cover "Solution Architectures - Exam 70-100". It is truly ironic that the author has succumbed to the bloatware flaw of his self-declared nemesis microsoft. In summary, this book might have been a decent book if it had been a shrunken to a third its size(and dare I say a third the price?)and that remaining third more focused. It would be polite to call the cover of this book a "misrepresentation", it would be an outright lie to say this book is worth its money. There are definitely better books out there.

Although the quality of the information is this book is high it is not relevant to the exam. Of the 21 chapters only 4 relate to the exam. My biggest complaint is the practise test which specifically excludes the 4 chapters in question even though they are shown on the cover illustration. The reason? You have to buy this as an extra, really misleading with the phrase, "Test your knowledge with over 100 assessment questions" emblazoned on the cover.

This is an amazingly rich and intelligent book. The author strives to give a balanced perspective on software architecture, even to the point of not being 100% pro-Microsoft. Be warned, though: the book may not sufficient to prepare you for the 70-100, as it is too heavy on COM to the detriment of other topics, and most of 70-100 stuff is relegated to exercises. IMO, it's best used in conjunction with a strictly test prep book, like Exam Cram MSCD Architectures. But overall, I rate it excellent.

I have several of Bruce's books. He brings a lot of experience to his writing. His thoughts are well formed and clear. I also enjoy his little rants (which are the sidebars, mostly). I have written Bruce email, asking his opinion on this feature or that. His answers have always been timely and to the point. Ever since his book on Windows Architecture I have been looking forward to his next one.

Lets start with WOW.

Details: Part one; covers the best practical definition of each of the terms outlined.

Part two; I wanted more out of ADO, but that was beyond the scope of the book.

Part three; teamed perfectly with the book "Code Complete" by Steve McConnell. Read part three then read Steve's book. This way you get to see what to do, and how to implement it in a documented environment.

Part four; I wanted to see COM+, however that is beyond the scope of the course. Maybe we can get Bruce to "on-line" publish Appendix E on COM+. Also, if your studying the 70-175 exam material, then your covering MTS which is part of COM+.