Book Review: MCPD 70-519 Exam Ref: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4

MCPD 70-519 Exam Ref: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4

PUBLISHER:Microsoft Press
RATING:4 out 5 stars
PRICE:$39.99
RECOMMENDATION:This book is a useful reference for developers preparing for the Microsoft 70-519 exam.
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Many .NET web developers use certification credentials to boost their professional reputation and career prospects. If you're planning to attempt aMicrosoft certification exam, it behooves you to review test-preparation materials and take practice exams in a simulated test environment.

Traditional technical books are useful for fully examining the concepts of a particular technology, but if your intent is to prepare for a Microsoftcertification exam, your best bet is to use a reference geared toward readying you for that exam.MCPD 70-519 Exam Ref: Designing and Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4, by Tony Northrup, is such as reference, focusing only on those topics that are relevant for the certification exam.

The book is divided into six chapters, with each chapter subdivided into several objectives. Chapter 1 covers application architecture design. Chapter2 examines the techniques for designing compelling user interfaces with the help of style sheets and themes, including configuration of the routingengine and globalization.

In chapter 3, Northrup provides a comprehensive explanation of designing database access, data presentation, and validation. The discussion coversworking with databases using ADO.NET and Entity Framework, including the usage of Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) web services, WCF dataservices, ASP.NET web services, and data validation. This chapter also provides guidance on choosing the appropriate database technology for your webapplication, to help avoid problems at a later stage of product development.

Chapter 4 examines concepts related to code-access security, process identity, impersonation, delegation, authentication, and authorization, includingthe steps required to minimize attack surfaces. Chapter 5 explains various testing methodologies and discusses methods used to prepare for andinvestigate application issues, providing information about code coverage, exception handling, debugging, tracing, and caching. The author delineatesthe steps required to test specific web applications.

The final chapter examines concepts related to deployment of an ASP.NET application. Within the focus of designing a deployment strategy, the authordiscusses various deployment methods, configuration hierarchy, the ConfigSource attribute, and cloud deployment load testing. Also covered are systemsmanagement and performance topics, such as queuing, performance tuning, event providers, and health monitoring.

Each section ends with a summary and review of the discussed concepts. A helpful feature is the Exam Tips that are placed at relevant points withineach chapter. These tips give test takers information that can help them quickly complete a test question without spending too much time on it --crucial to success on a certification exam.

The book doesn't teach fundamentals, so it won't be useful for developers who want to master ASP.NET completely. The book's main audience is advanceddevelopers who only need a review of concepts included in the syllabus of the certification exam. The book will also be useful for developers who don'twant to buy the original certification-exam courseware published by Microsoft, which is available from various test centers. If you're planning to takethe Microsoft 70-519 exam and are looking for a review resource, this book serves that purpose well.

Anand Narayanaswamyis an ASPInsider; he works as a freelance writer based in Trivandrum, India.