Recommend me a Microsoft programming Certificate

Stimulant · 25-11-2008 4:10pm #1

Hi there,

Coming from a Java (Academic, self taught experience) background.

I would like to jump into .Net, C# is similar to Java and this is where I would like to dip my toes in.
Bear in mind I would not like to do a course for certification.
I would pick up a book and study it while doing .Net project in unison.

The Microsoft certification system is new to me and I would like your good selves to recommend me a certificate?

Need more specifics, just ask.

Thanks!

Ginger · 25-11-2008 9:23pm

Do you want to do Web application development, client development etc etc..

There are currently a couple of different certifications paths available to developers using with .NET 1.1, 2.0 or 3.5

So be prepared this is a fairly long post

So off we go

Right I will go through by framework just to make things easier for you... There are currently 3 versions of the .NET framework that you can certify on.

.NET Framework 1.1

There are 2 developer certs using this version. The thing is that they are not specifically aimed at web devs. Tho you can web developer specialties to make up the cert.

The 2 certs are the MCAD and MCSD.NET.

The MCAD is the basic developer certification and the MCSD.NET aimed at the advanced levels.

To get the MCAD you need to take 3 exams, consisting of 2 core and 1 elective. The core exams can be made up of Windows Forms or ASP.NET web appilications and then .NET Web services and XML stuff. The elective can be chosen from a fairly long list.

The MCSD.NET is 2 more exams consisting of 1 design exam and 1 more core exam.

Both are extremely well recognised certifications at this stage as they have been around for ages. Once you have the certifications you dont need to recertify as you have them for life. These certifications will retire in March 2009 meaning that you will not be able to obtain the certs after this time, but will still be allowed to call yourself and MCAD or MCSD.NET

.NET Framework 2.0

These certifications come under the new generation of exams and certifications. There are couple of different ones that require different exams to achieve. The difference with the new generation exams is that they are more focused at job role and allow you to specialise in particular technologies easier.

There are 2 certifications types and these are the MCTS and MCPD. The MCTS is the tech specialist certification and is geared at the person that understands the how aspect. The MCPD is the pro developer cert and is geared above the MCTS and is the why aspect if you undertstand me.

There are 3 MCTS certs and 3 corresponding MCPD certs. These are related to the three pillars of .NET 2.0 and they are Web, Windows and Enterprise.

So you have the MCTS

And MCPD

So you have quite a choice in that alone. Now to start you are probably best off doing the .NET Foundations exam, exam # 70-536

The 70-536 exam is a common exam and is required for all .NET developer MCTS certifications. Once you have passed it, it covers the requirements for all the certs. IE you only need to pass it once!

The MCPD is the high end certification for .NET 2.0 developers. It is geared at medium to large scale .NET devs, those people developing larger applications on the 2.0 framework.

To get the MCPD Web or Windows you need the relevant MCTS Web or Windows and then you need to pass one more exam, which is the pro/design exam for that MCPD.

So you can do it in a two step approach. Get the MCTS and then get the MCPD. In total the MCPD requires just 3 exams to get.

The MCTS .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Applications is the cert concerned with .NET web services and .NET remoting. It covers things such as WSE 3.0, Web services and .NET remoting. Again you need two exams to achieve it.

The MCTS Dist is the most "enterprisey" of the 3 MCTS for .NET. The corresponding MCPD is the MCPD Enterprise Applications Developer. And this requires that you hold the .NET development MCTS (Web, Windows and Dist) and complete 1 more exam so takes 5 exams to do. So for most people is not the best MCTS to start with if you want to get the MCPD certification for it.

These certs are beginning to become more and more recognised. Some of the HR people havent quite caught up with the new letters yet.

As for the refresh, the original thinking was this. That the MCTS would retire and be removed from your transcript when mainstream support for the product ended. And that the MCPD would have to refreshed every three years and if you didnt it would be removed from your transcript. Thankfully this is not the case

Whats happening now is the following and this will apply for all the MCTS and MCPD and MCITP certifications for the future (subject to change!!)

Your MCTS will still retire when mainstream support for the product ends, but it will stay on your transcript as a retired certification. The same is being done for the MCPD, in that you dont have to do a refresh every 3 years, and that it will only retire at the same time as the MCTS. So its not a bad solution. Just means that when MS end mainstream support for the product you are certified on, your certs will also retire, but you will still have them on your transcript.

.NET Framework 3.5

This is the newest full release of the .NET framework. In this incarnation there will be 6 MCTS certifications and 3 MCPD certs.

5 of these MCTS certs are currently finished their beta periods and are out now

These are

The final one is the Windows cert, and this is currently in the beta process and due to be released Q1 2009.

To get any of these certs they will be again a 2 exam process.

You will need the 70-536 exam and the corresponding exam for the MCTS. As you can see the same exam for the .NET 2.0 MCTS certs is gonna be used for the .NET 3.5 ones.

What they did was this. Originally it was called, .NET 2.0 Foundation and they renamed it for the .NET Foundation so that it would cover the principles of .NET development and not be version specific. Confusing eh!

So if you complete any of the MCTS exams for .NET 2.0 you will need only 1 exam to get certified on the 3.5 framework. Most people dont know that these certs even exist yet and they are not too much in demand but they will start to become more and more marketable as the technology moves on.

Now you have again 3 MCPDs, again Web, Windows and Enterprise. The difference is the requirements for Enterprise. It requires the MCTS in Web, Windows, WCF and ADO.NET and 1 Pro exam.

Currently at the time of writing the Pro exams are in beta and should be live sometime in Q1 2009.

So you have plenty of choice there. It depends on what version of the framework you want to certify in. Certifying in 2.0 is a good option as its probably one of the more widespread of them (excluding 1.1). Also it means that if you want to upgrade to 3.5, its a one exam upgrade for you.

Hope this helps. Any other q's just ask

Recommend me a Microsoft programming Certificate

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