II) Exam 70-486: Developing ASP.NET MVC 4 Applications
Ok this exam was not easy. Barring in mind that i studied for this exam and was all prepared to give its Beta Version in October 2012, but missed the opportunity as i was 10mins late at getting to this Prometric centre (being up for 24hrs straight studying for it)... anyways whats done was done, moving on. So I studied for it back then and was not going to study for it again, so I watched the course on Pluralsight Building Applications with ASP.NET MVC 4 and got a 70% in the exam. Yeah i know barely passed.... phew. I had working knowledge of MVC3 earlier back in 2011 and I know when you get put on a Project a quick revision of the Key Concepts and techniques is required, so am not brooding that I barely passed but am happy I got the recognition in an easy way and as far as work is concerned if I am up on a project using this technology I know I will go over the key concepts quickly again.
As mentioned earlier when I prepared for the beta version of this exam, I skimmed through the books below. Keep the objectives of the exam handy (get a quick printout and refer it, time to time while doing your preparation)
1. Manning.ASP.NET.MVC.4.in.Action
I recommend this book for anyone who wants to pass this exam or wants to Ace in a project at work. It is really Good. Once you get started reading it, trust me it is hard to stop.
2. MSPress.Designing and developing Web Applications using .Net Framework 4.0 (MCPD 70-519)
It has a good chapter on State Management. Actually its best to look over just the sections you feel you are weak at, this goes for the rest of the books I skimmed during my beta exam preparation (which i never gave :)
3. MSPress.Web Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (MCTS 70-515)
Wow, really good chapter on State Management. The key concepts involved in State Management is a thing that I like to keep on my fingertips as it can make a huge difference in Performance and Scalability. Another good chapter in this book is on LINQ - Iinq to sql (never use this in real world), linq to entities (be careful when using this in real world), linq to datasets (feel free to use as much as you want in real world :)
This book also has a nice section on MVC architecture at the end of it.
4. MSPress.Programming Microsoft ASPNET MVC
Really nice explanation of Concepts. Just skim through the book and read the sections you think you are weak at. Having studied the Manning book there shouldn't be much here for you though. But overall a nice book.
5. MSPress.Programming.Microsoft.ASP.NET.4
If you need to know what goes on under the hood, then this book will give you a run for your money. Very detailed and definitely not bad, but you probably don't need it for this exam. Just skim over a topic or two that you are weak in.
III) Exam 70-487: Developing Windows Azure and Web Services
This exam is quite a hard nut to crack. Don't take it lightly. However i don't have a lot of experience in Wcf or Windows Azure, so it could be that ;) However i have done my fair share of Web services programming time to time.
The below list is quite a bit... try and focus on Point 3 below for the exam. There could be more stuff that you could be tested on, so try and get one of the free second shot vouchers if you can, I didn't use one though registered my exam with one of them.
1. MVA Free Courses.
a) Introduction to Windows Azure
b) Overview of Windows Azure and Virtual Machines
c) Windows Azure Security Overview
2. Pluralsight Courses.
a) Introduction to WCF
b) WCF Fundamentals
c) WCF Advanced Topics
d) WCF for Architects
e) Introduction to Windows Azure
3) Pluralsight Courses (A Must do for exam)
a) Introduction to ASP.NET Web API
b) WCF Extensibility
Ok, well that's it for now, Goodbye and Goodluck.
In my next post I will tell my journey to MCSD Windows Store Apps using HTML5 Track and C# Track.