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  • #2186519

    MCTS or MCAD or MCPD or MCSD

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    by onbliss ·

    I was planning to complete just one of the core exams for MCSD:[b]70-315[/b]. MS seems to have two new certifications path for .Net 2.0 and VS 2005 professionals – MCTS and MCAD.

    Now I am little confused. Any recommendations on which path/exam is better?

    Recommendations for good books/exam preparation material is appreciated :d

All Comments

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    Replies
    • #3154001

      MCPD cert

      by jayp18 ·

      In reply to MCTS or MCAD or MCPD or MCSD

      Hi, I’ve recently done the MCSD certification and as I was completing it I noticed the new certifications were coming out.
      If you do the MCSD certifications then you can sit two additional exams and get the MCPD certifications. Both courses cover the same core materials. What the MCPD offers is more detailed info on Studio 2005 and SQL 2005.

      • #3153974

        mcsd

        by shellbot ·

        In reply to MCPD cert

        did you go straight for MCSD or did you get MCAD and get some experience first?

        I’ve decided to go for MCAD, and then after working with that for lets say 6 months or so, take the extra courses to sit MCSD. Sound reasonable or do i want more experience inbetween?

        • #3153781

          Maybe MCTS…

          by onbliss ·

          In reply to mcsd

          Look at MCTS if you are interested in VS2005 (and .net 2.0). MS says it is geared more towards that area.

          Anyway one of the exams of MCTS enables us to get credit towards 3 tracks – MCTS, MCPD and…(i forget the last one)

          I saw that MS has an upgrade exam for MACD to MCPD.

        • #3153046

          Straight MCSD

          by jayp18 ·

          In reply to mcsd

          I went for straight MCSD because I have over 12 years of development experience and very few formal qualifications in computing. I have in recent years done projects from scratch and i felt it would be wise to get some formal education on project development. Also if I am honest, i was doing a boot camp and thought it wise to get as much done as possible in that time. I was also aware that the new MCPD qualifications were coming out and i thought it might be good to do them after a bit of experience after the initial MCSD qualifications!

        • #2649340

          MCAD is a pre req for the MCPD

          by schreck.ryan ·

          In reply to mcsd

          From what I undestand, correct me if I am wrong, the MCAD is the minimum pre req to be able to do the MCPD.

      • #3153968

        sorry onbliss !

        by shellbot ·

        In reply to MCPD cert

        don’t mean to hijack your thread!

        anyone know if i am insane wanting to do BOTH the vb & the c# exams? reason i ask is, that where i am going to do they training, they have a thing where you pay a set fee which allows you access to any courses in your choosen “path”. So i’m thinking, i’ll do both right, as it won’t cost me any extra..(well, will have to pay for the extra exam bit)
        As background, I’ve done 3 VB6 courses, so not new to it (just have to upskill to .net) but c# would be new..closest i ever got to C was using samples of it to convert to javascript code..(don’t ask)

        • #3153815

          vb or not vb, that is the question.

          by jayp18 ·

          In reply to sorry onbliss !

          If the cost isn’t too much more i’d say go for the VB.net also. Most of the core work is very similar, in fact my trainer showed me lots of VB.net example and I was doing the C# course only. You will find that in the market quite a few of the banks use VB.net, so having the extra certification will extend your chances of gaining employment. Warning though… i found doing just C# a handful. Don’t kid yourself about the amount of work you will have to do.

        • #3153206

          thanks

          by shellbot ·

          In reply to vb or not vb, that is the question.

          ya..i know, i’m going to be a very busy person for the next while. Full time job, kid, hubby and 2 cats…and this will mean classes 2-3 times a week, after work and on weekends..
          but it will be worth it in the end..won’t it..i keep telling myself that anyways!

        • #3153784

          Yes you are insane…

          by onbliss ·

          In reply to sorry onbliss !

          ..not for hijacking but for going for vb.net and c#. 🙂
          Even if you have the time and money, I am not sure if you will have a great advantage in being certified in both languages.

        • #3153207

          i always knew

          by shellbot ·

          In reply to Yes you are insane…

          i was insane 🙂

          well..i’ll start out with VB.net and see how i do. if i have the time i might do the c# anyways..
          my long term plan is to do short term contracts, so if i have both languages, i increase my skills and hopefully can pick and choose my contracts accordingly…(well thats the idea anyways!)

          at any rate, I’ll be starting the MCAD in a couple weeks and then take it from there i guess.

        • #3153141

          Good luck…

          by onbliss ·

          In reply to i always knew

          with your certifications. I plan to work on MCTS for the time being.

        • #3217630

          You Don’t Need To Learn Both

          by logos-systems ·

          In reply to sorry onbliss !

          I have my MCSD, and at one time, back when we were using Visual Studio 6. But VB.Net is totally different then it was back with VB 6.0. Syntactically it is very similar, but programmatically it is different. It is more like C++ was back then. Today if you can program in C# you will have no problem programming in VB.Net. I have been programming, in .NET now for over 5 years and I can tell you that the industry is currently starting to favor C# over VB.Net. So the long and short of it is take one language, and use your time to work on additional electives, such as SQL Server courses, or additional classes in Security.

      • #3153783

        Thanks…

        by onbliss ·

        In reply to MCPD cert

        ..I did some reading on certifications, and thought MCPD would be the way to go for me as I am working on VS2005. I will have to do the MCTS first, as it is a prerequiste.

    • #3217603

      MCPD Is Much More Difficult Then MCSD

      by logos-systems ·

      In reply to MCTS or MCAD or MCPD or MCSD

      I have a MCSD certification, and 5 years programming using C# and .NET. I am currently preparing for the MCPD Enterprise Application Developer Upgrade exam, Cert-70-553. And I can tell you from personal experience, in preparing for this exam, that the knowledge needed to pass this exam is considerablely more then it was to get my MCSD certification.

    • #3223717

      MCTS exam centres

      by robalexclark ·

      In reply to MCTS or MCAD or MCPD or MCSD

      Hi all,

      I’m thinking of studying towards a MCTS in C#, having programmed in it for about a year now after 10 years as a vb and SAS programmer. I’m probaly going to use self study rather than go on courses, but I was wondering if anyone new where you can take the exam(s). Also, anyone got any idea of the mark required to pass, and the approximate pass rate??

      Thanks,
      Rob

    • #3021756

      Clear Path in the Acronym Jungle

      by rgreaves ·

      In reply to MCTS or MCAD or MCPD or MCSD

      Check this link out folx…simplifies the confusion BIG TIME!

      Visual Studio 2005 certification series MCTS and MCPD

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