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Everything You Want to Know About 70-536 C#

Earning a Microsoft certification acknowledges your expertise in working with Microsoft products and technologies and sets you apart from the crowd as a development professional. Microsoft certification demonstrates that you have the ability to successfully implement Microsoft business solutions for your organization or client.

This article will provide a basic understanding of the scope of the certification and will also give details about the certification along with the useful resources to get started.

Introduction

With .NET, Microsoft is also espousing a vision, this time about how the Internet can make businesses more efficient and deliver services to consumers. The present enterprise setup’s need to have n-tier architecture with diverse platforms and object models communicating with each other. The present applications are to be created such that those applications have to run in any platform (like Windows, Linux, Mac, Unix etc.) and which consist of components written in many programming languages and object models.

The framework’s Base Class Library provides a large range of features including user interface, data and data access, database connectivity, cryptography, web application development, numeric algorithms, and network communications. The class library is used by programmers, who combine it with their own code to produce applications. Many language vendors have tried to upgrade their languages, but there is a frontier to which they have been victorious since they have to maintain backward competence and face many additional problems too. To resolve the problem of the existing programmers Microsoft has come with a very promising solution “The .NET Platform”.

.NET provides a number of benefits that will make developers further productive, trim down the number of bugs, alacrity application development, and simplify deployment. IT managers are understandably cautious, since .NET is a new technology that requires a moderately sharp learning curve. For most organizations, however, the benefits will far overshadow the negatives; and with .NET, you’ll see great productivity gains for future development projects.

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.NET certification is the leading credential for professionals who design and develop leading edge business solutions with Microsoft .NET development tools, technologies and platforms.

You might want to consider taking the MCTS 70-536 exam to:

  • Gain valuable skills, knowledge and expertise
  • Raise your income
  • Increase your job opportunities
  • Earn more respect from your peers
  • Improve your job security

Earning a Microsoft certification acknowledges your expertise in working with Microsoft products and technologies and sets you apart from the mass as a development professional. Microsoft certification demonstrates that you have the ability to successfully implement Microsoft business solutions for your organization or client.

This article will make available a basic understanding of the scope of the certification and will also offer details about the certification along with the constructive resources to get started.

What you need to know for MCTS 70-536?

As a competent developer, you must be proficient in creating Windows, Web, Distributed, and Enterprise applications that have a smooth look and feel.

In the Exam 70-536, Microsoft tests your skills on .NET Framework fundamentals with VS .NET/C# OR VS .NET/VB on seven objectives.

Exam Objectives Weightage of Questions

  • Developing applications that use system types and collections (15 percent)
  • Implementing service processes, threading, and application domains in a .NET Framework application (11 percent)
  • Embedding configuration, diagnostic, management, and installation features into a .NET Framework application (14 percent)
  • Implementing serialization and input/output functionality in a .NET Framework application (18 percent)
  • Improving the security of .NET Framework applications by using the .NET Framework security features (20 percent)
  • Implementing interoperability, reflection, and mailing functionality in a .NET Framework application (11 percent)
  • Implementing globalization, drawing, and text manipulation functionality in a .NET Framework application (11 percent)

For a detailed break up of topics covered in the MCTS .NET 70-536 exam, you can visit the
Microsoft certification web page.

Microsoft’s 70-536 is designed to test your knowledge of the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 fundamentals. This Technology Specialist (TS) exam, Exam 70-536: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework, Application Development Foundation, became available in March 2006. Exam 70-536 is designed to measure your knowledge of .NET development fundamentals and is not tied to a particular version of .NET.

Since the exam is now applicable to both Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 certification tracks, we have changed the name of the exam. Formerly TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 – Application Development Foundation, Exam 70-536 is now called TS: Microsoft .NET Framework, Application Development Foundation. If you are a .NET 2.0 developers, you do not need to learn .NET 3.5 to pass Exam 70-536; conversely, if you are a .NET 3.5 developer, you do not need to review .NET 2.0 to pass the exam.

The test is appropriate for you if you are working or want to work in a typically complex computing environment of medium-to-large organizations that use Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, or Microsoft Visual Studio 2008.

Candidates should have at least two to three years of experience developing Web-based, Windows-based, or distributed applications by using the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0, the .NET Framework 1.1, the .NET Framework 2.0, or the .NET Framework 3.5. Candidates should have a working knowledge of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Studio 2008.

MCTS 70-536 Exam Specifics

This Microsoft MCTS 70-536 exam consists of multiple-choice questions. There are case study type questions and the test is not adaptive. There are two case studies. You will be required to attempt approximately 50 questions in 120 minutes (including 8 questions based on the 2 case studies). To pass, you need a score of 700 out of 1000. This exam is moderately difficult and costs 125 USD. It can be taken from Prometric testing centers.

Microsoft has also incorporated a new style of question where you get a split screen. The question is at the very top, drag-and-drop items on the bottom left and configuration screens on the bottom right. You will have plenty of time to answer the exam questions, so there is no need to rush. If you have spare time available, you can double check the questions and ensure that you have read them correctly and actually answered the question as intended.

What you need to do to pass MCTS 70-536 exam?

First, you should get involved in overview of .NET framework and also identify the tools and services provided by .NET framework. After getting familiar with the tool and services available, you need to get well versed with the .NET fundamental. To get started on fundamental you can read the article available on MSDN. It’ll give you a good introduction to .NET fundamental.

.NET is completely object oriented. It is likely that you will see a question or two on OOP concepts. You need to get a through understanding of OOP Concepts like Encapsulation, Polymorphism, Exceptional Handling etc. Interoperability is an important area to focus on while preparing for MCTS 70-536 exam. You will be asked a question or two on the accessibility features of .NET for the physically challenged users.

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Tips and Pitfalls for MCTS 70-536 Exam

Roadmaps to the skills development and career opportunities that the Microsoft .NET platform provides for developers and recommended learning pathways through Official Microsoft Learning Products and Microsoft Press books are available now. In addition to your hands-on experience working with the product, you may want to take advantage of the tools and training on the Get Started with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Development page to help you prepare.

Dos and Don’ts during the exam and while preparing for it

Dynamic control creation is important to know. Microsoft is focusing more on user driven content than static content with .NET. A portion of this has to do with what operating system name and version you have, but there are specific steps you can take to package and deploy your application properly. Focus your data studies on what works optimally with data types.

Encrypt, decrypt, and hash data by using the System.Security.Cryptography classes if you’re a little rusty. Understand the different types of encryption as well as the different types of authentications. Sure you can pick out code errors when given examples. Specifically, know how to resolve looping errors, import errors, and general syntax errors.

Understand Windows Installer technology and how it relates to applications written in Visual Studio .NET. If you’re not a developer who’s focused on enterprise based applications, you may not have a lot of exposure to localization and globalization of software. This is one area where Microsoft believes a certified developer should have a significant background.

Understand how security works in .NET. Understand which accounts have privileges to run which sections of code.

Enhance the text handling capabilities and the user interface of a .NET Framework application as well as format data based on culture information.

Implement reflection functionality in a .NET Framework application (refer System.Reflection namespace), and create metadata, Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL), and a PE file by using the System.Reflection.Emit namespace and expected to have a thorough understanding of unmanaged DLL functions in a .NET Framework application, and control the marshaling of data in a .NET Framework application to succeed in MCTS 70-536 exam.

Conclusion

With Microsoft targeting all its future applications on .NET and companies adopting the Microsoft new initiative, it is quite obvious that .NET is going to pave its way for the future and will be Microsoft’s weapon for its future vision. .NET is a major leap of Microsoft with intranet in mind. Getting knowledge of .NET and eventually the MCTS .NET certification will certainly help you in maintaining consistency with the future releases of Microsoft.

Useful Resources

Books:

Following good books are available at the time of writing this document, which are written specifically from MCP exam point of view.

  • MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536): Microsoft® .NET Framework 2.0 Foundation by Tony Northrup and Shawn Wildermuth, with Bill Ryan of GrandMasters.
  • MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536): Microsoft .NET Framework-Application Development Foundation by Tony Northrup Edition: 2

When you are ready to prepare for MCTS 70-536 exam, here’s where you should start.

Instructor led Courses for this exam include:

TechNet:

Designed for IT professionals, this site includes How-to’s, best practices, downloads, technical chats, and much more.

MSDN:

The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) is a reference for developers, featuring code samples, technical articles, newsgroups, chats, and more.

Training & Certification Newsgroups:

A newsgroup exists for every Microsoft certification. By participating in the ongoing dialogue, you take advantage of a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with and ask questions of others, including more than 750 Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) worldwide. Apart from that, there are other useful sites as follows:

Of course – nothing can top the MSDN site for technical content – it is a very comprehensive resource – however, it’s a bit too comprehensive, as it caters to a larger set of developers than just the ones developing applications on C#/VB.

Exam Simulators

uCertify, the market leader in IT Certification Exam Preparation, provides MCTS .NET 70-536 Exam Simulator. The simulator is quite useful and effective in fine-tuning your preparation within a limited timeframe.

Certification Forums

Certification forums are a very good resource to align you preparation with your peers. You can discuss any insight, problem, or issue with like-minded professionals and keep yourself updated all the time through the forum. uCertify MCTS .NET Certification Forum facilitates such a platform for you to succeed in the 70-536 exam and enhance your learning experience.

About the Author

uCertify is a leading provider of IT skill assessment and certification exam preparation tools. uCertify’s suite of offerings include “IT Certification Exam simulators and Instructor led, Online Trainings” for various exams by Sun, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, LPI, ISC2, and other leading IT vendors and “IT skill Assessment Management Solution” for Corporations, Training Institutes, and Universities.

In its first 5 years of inception uCertify has helped 100,000 software professionals in realizing their dream of acquiring IT Certifications of their interest.

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