Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)

Gman · 7 Apr 2007 at 14:08

Look at going for this Microsoft certification however I'm a little confused as to which exams i need to take/study for and in what order I have to take them in.

The Information for the certification is here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcpd/default.mspx

Now from what I can make out I have to first do the MCTS: .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications exams of which there are two located here http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/webapps/default.mspx

I then have to take the MCPD: Web Developer exam which is located here http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcpd/webdev/default.mspx Exam 70-547

So in total there are 3 exams

This right or have I read it all wrong ?

pinkaardvark · 7 Apr 2007 at 18:03

Yes you must sit the .NET framework foundation exam 70-536. This just covers the .NET framework 2.0 in general. (You do not gain any certificate for passing this)

Then you can sit the Web Application 70-528 Exam. Passing this in conjunction with the first exam will achieve the MCTS - Web accreditation.

Then you sit the Pro Web App exam 70-547. Passing this will gain a MCPD-Web

If you want the MCPD enterprise creditation you must sit all 3 of the MCTS level exams + the foundation + the Pro Enterprise exam. ie 5 exams. I have just recently done this myself so can offer some ammount of advice

Gman · 7 Apr 2007 at 18:37

thanks for clearing it up, so looks like foundation it is then. Roughly how long did if take you to revise for each of the exams and how difficult where they ?

Mark JB · 7 Apr 2007 at 19:12

How do you study for these, is it book based or do you have to go to training centers ?

Also how much does it cost to get to the full five exams, assumming of course you pass them all ?

pinkaardvark · 7 Apr 2007 at 19:55

Mark JB said:
How do you study for these, is it book based or do you have to go to training centers ?

Also how much does it cost to get to the full five exams, assumming of course you pass them all ?

There are courses available yes, there are also crash course available where they cram the stuff into you just to pass.

These certifications imho serve only one useful purpose, they help you as a programmer cover material you may not normally encounter. Ideally you should have been using these technologies in a work environment for some time before considering sitting the exams, ie. I have developed with .NET for 5 years now and VB for 10 years.

I also did an MCSD back in 2000 so wasn't new to these exams. Basically i prefer to pick up the book from "an online book retailer" and spend a couple of weeks going through it and revising, also use MSDN as a study tool. Then sit the exam.

They are multiple choice and cost £88 from Sylvan Prometric or £100 with VUE. The Microsoft Press study kit books currently have a 15% off voucher code in them.

The exams are multiple choice in the main, with some interactive parts. They are computer based and take between 2 and 3 hours each. For these exams the pass mark is 700pts out of 1000 ie 70% although MS don't reveal how they mark them and some questions can be dummies. You get the result instantly on screen at the end of the exam.

pinkaardvark · 7 Apr 2007 at 19:59

Expect questions similar to this. "This is a MSPress study question not a real exam question"

You are an enterprise developer creating a Web service application that requires incoming SOAP messages to be signed using an X.509 certificate.

You need to add code to verify that the <Body> element of the SOAP request was signed using an X.509 certificate. The method name should be IsMessageSigned.

Select the method implementation that will accomplish the given requirement.

A.

Code:

 private bool IsMessageSigned(SoapContext context) 
 
{
 
foreach (ISecurityElement element in context.Security.Elements)
 
{
 
if (element is MessageSignature)
 
{
 
// The given context contains a Signature element.
 
MessageSignature sig = element as MessageSignature;
 
if ((sig.SignatureOptions & 
 
SignatureOptions.IncludeSoapBody) != 0)
 
{
 
// The SOAP Body is signed.
 
return true;
 
}
 
}
 
}
 
return false;
 
}

B.

Code:

 private bool IsMessageSigned(SoapContext context) 
 
{
 
foreach (ISecurityElement element in context.Security.Elements)
 
{
 
if (element is MessageSignature)
 
{
 
// The given context contains a Signature element.
 
MessageSignature sig = element as MessageSignature;
 
}
 
}
 
return false;
 
}

C.

Code:

 private bool IsMessageSigned(String context) 
 
{
 
foreach (ISecurityElement element in context.Security.Elements)
 
{
 
if (element is MessageSignature)
 
{
 
// The given context contains a Signature element.
 
MessageSignature sig = element as MessageSignature;
 
if ((sig.SignatureOptions & 
 
SignatureOptions.IncludeSoapBody) != 0)
 
{
 
// The SOAP Body is signed.
 
return true;
 
}
 
}
 
}
 
return false;
 
}

D.

Code:

 private bool IsMessageSigned(SoapContext context) 
 
{
 
foreach (element in context.Security.Elements)
 
{
 
if (element is MessageSignature)
 
{
 
// The given context contains a Signature element.
 
MessageSignature sig = element as MessageSignature;
 
if ((sig.SignatureOptions & 
 
SignatureOptions.IncludeSoapBody) != 0)
 
{
 
// The SOAP Body is signed.
 
return true;
 
}
 
}
 
}
 
return false;
 
}

Dj_Jestar · 7 Apr 2007 at 21:41

FAILED.

for not using code tags.