Microsoft - MCPD .NET 3.5 Windows Applications Developer

The Microsoft MCTS .NET 4.0 Data Access and Web Applications certification is designed to teach you the following:

• Developing Data Access Solutions with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010
• Developing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

You will be tested on the following exams:

• Exam 70-516 - TS: Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4
• Exam 70-515 - TS: Web Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4

Why .Net 4.0?

Microsoft is positioning Visual Studio 2010 as its tool platform to support Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Azure, SQL Server, Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010. The suite includes new drag and drop bindings for Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation; interoperability with the ASP.Net model view controller (MVC), better multicore support and UML support.

.Net 4 adds support for the Microsoft Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR), giving programmers more language choices; and is more suited for parallel-programming, workflow-centric and service-oriented application development.

One of the biggest enhancements of the .Net Framework 4 is the reduction in client footprint by more than 80%.

What are the benefits of .Net 4.0 over .Net 3.5?

.Net 4.0 is completely inclusive of .Net 3.5, and also offers the following new or enhanced functions:

• MVC Applications part of the ASP.NET 4.0 exam
• jQuery and Advanced Client Scripting part of the ASP.NET 4.0 exam
• WPF Applications Development certification part of the Windows Applications 4.0 exam along with Windows Forms
• Entity Framework 4.0 - which represents enhancement to Entity Framework 3.5 - part of the ADO.NET 4.0 exam
• Windows Communications Foundation has been redesigned and thoroughly enhanced and is part of the WCF 4.0 exam

Below is a detailed list of new enhancements:

Visual Studio 2010

• Code Snippets
• New Profiles
• Generate from Usage
• Multi-Trageting
• Multi-Monitor
• Code Navigation in Class Files
• IntelliSense Improvements
• Enable Persisted Selection
• Add Reference Dialog
• Dynamic Lookup

C#

• Optional Parameters in C#
• Named Parameters in C#

ASP.NET 4.0

• Compressing Session Values
• Web.Config Transformation
• URL Routing
• Meta Tags
• Generating Client IDs
• Permanent Redirects
• New Browser Definitions
• New Publishing Project Interface

WCF 4.0

• Simple Configuration

Windows Applications 4.0

• Inclusion of WPF in the Windows Applications Exam

ADO.NET 4.0

• Foreign Keys in the Conceptual Model
• Self-Tracking Entities for N-Tier Application Development
• New Methods for N-Tier Application Development
• EntityDataSource Support for the QueryExtender Control
• Testability with IObjectSet
• Direct Execution of Store Commands
• Persistence-Ignorant Objects
• Lazy Loading of Related Objects
• Functions in LINQ to Entities Queries
• OrderBy Improvements in LINQ to Entities
• Customized Object-Layer Code Generation
• Model-First Support
• Complex Type Support
• Improved Model Browser Functionality

You will get answers to these questions:

• What does dynamic typing in C# 4.0 mean?
• What does PFx give me that I couldn't do in .NET 3.5?
• How is ASP.NET MVC different from building WebForms-based web applications?
• Why did they rewrite workflow and what new features do I get as a result?
• How does Entity Framework 4.0 help me build n-tier applications?

You will learn how to:

• Leverage new features of C# 4.0, including named and optional parameters and dynamic typing.
• Understand the new features of the core .NET runtime services including the garbage collector.
• Use PFx as a unifying library for all your multithreading needs.
• Parallelize computationally intensive processing using multiple cores/processors.
• Build efficient multithreaded processing using new lightweight concurrent data structures.
• Create workflows that can model complex processing using flowchart workflows.
• Create declarative services using workflow that can be deployed as simple text files.
• Decouple your entity model from the data using Plain Old CLR Objects (POCOs).
• Write classes that can track changes to their own state for n-tier development with Entity Framework.
• Build Windows 7 ready applications with WPF 4.0.
• Simplify your service deployment with zero config services with WCF 4.0.
• Write rich web applications that are simpler to unit test.
• Create REST based services based on the ASP.NET infrastructure

Modeling data

• Map entities and relationships by using the Entity Data Model
• Map entities and relationships by using LINQ to SQL
• Create and customize entity objects
• Connect a POCO model to the Entity Framework
• Create the database from the Entity Framework model
• Create model-defined functions

Managing Connections and Context

• Configure connection strings and providers
• Create and manage a data connection
• Secure a connection
• Manage the DataContext and ObjectContext
• Implement eager loading
• Caching data
• ADO.NET Data Services

Querying data

• Execute a SQL query
• Create a LINQ query
• Create an Entity SQL (ESQL) query
• Handle special data types
• Query XML data
• Query data using ADO.NET Data Services

Manipulating data

• Create, update, or delete data by using SQL statements
• Create, update, or delete data by using DataContext
• Manage Transactions
• Create disconnected objects

Developing and Deploying Reliable Applications

• Monitor and collect performance data
• Handle exceptions
• Protect data
• Synchronize data
• Deploy ADO.NET components

Building a User Interface by Using Basic Techniques

• Controls and control hierarchies
• Styles and theming
• Reusable resources
• Animation in WPF

Enhancing a User Interface by Using Advanced Techniques

• Routed events in WPF and WPF commanding
• User-defined controls and working with graphics
• Multimedia in WPF
• Control templates in WPF
• Create data, event, and property triggers in WPF

Managing Data at the User Interface layer

• Data Binding
• Value Converters in WPF
• Data validation
• Consuming change notification events
• Collections of data and binding hierarchical data
• Data templates in WPF

Enhancing the Functionality and Usability of a Solution

• Integration of WinForms and WPF
• Asynchronous processing and threading
• Globalization and localization
• Drag and drop operations
• Security
• User and application settings
• Dependency properties

Stabilizing and releasing a solution

• WPF test strategies
• Debug XAML using WPF visualize
• Debug WPF using PresentationTraceSources
• ClickOnce deployment
• Windows Installer project
• Deployment security settings

Creating Services

• Create service and operation contracts
• Create data contracts
• Create message contracts
• Implement generic message handling
• Implement RESTful services
• Create and configure a Routing service
• Create and configure a Discovery service

Hosting and Configuring Services

• Create and configure endpoints
• Configure behaviors
• Implement self hosting
• Implement web server hosting

Consuming Services

• Create a service proxy
• Configure client endpoints
• Invoke a service
• Consume RESTful services
• Implement service discovery

Securing Services

• Secure bindings
• Message security
• Authentication
• Authorization
• Impersonation
• Security auditing

Manage the Service Instance Life Cycle

• Service Instances
• Sessions
• Transactions
• Concurrency
• Manage consistency between instances, sessions, transactions and concurrency

Monitoring and Troubleshooting Distributed Systems

• Configure message logging
• Configure diagnostics
• Debug client-service interactions

Designing and Developing Windows Applications

• Designing the Application Architecture
• Designing the User Experience
• Designing Data Strategies and Structures
• Designing Security Architecture and Implementation
• Preparing For and Investigating Application Issues
• Designing a Deployment Strategy

We’ll prepare you for, and test you in the following 4 exams required for the MCPD Windows Applications Developer 3.5:

• Exam 70-536 - .NET Framework Application Development Foundation, Prerequisite Exam for all MCTS Certifications
• Exam 70-561 - .NET Framework 3.5 ADO.NET Application Development
• Exam 70-505 - .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Forms Application Development
• Exam 70-563 - Designing and Developing Windows Applications Using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Microsoft Official Curriculum

• MOC 10265A: Developing Data Access Solutions with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010
• MOC 10262A: Developing Windows Applications with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010
• MOC 10263A: Developing Windows Communication Foundation Solutions with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

Students that are successful in the Microsoft MCPD Enterprise Applications Developer course should possess the following pre-requisites.

Candidates for the Technology Specialist certifications are expected to have:

• At least two years' experience developing applications by using the Microsoft .NET Framework
• A working knowledge of Visual Studio 2008
• A basic understanding of web protocols and HTML
• A basic understanding of desktop applications development
• A basic understanding of multi-tier software development

Candidates for the MCPD: Enterprise Applications Developer certification are expected to have:

• At least three to five years of on-the-job experience dedicated to enterprise application development
• Worked in the following phases in the application life cycle:
• Technical Envisioning and Planning
• Design and Development
• Stabilising and Releasing