We’re very happy to announce that MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-516): Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4, by Glenn Johnson (ISBN: 9780735627390, 672 pages) has released to the printer. This book can help you prepare for Exam 70-516: TS: Accessing Data with Microsoft .NET Framework 4.
Work at your own pace through a series of lessons and reviews that fully cover each exam objective. Then, reinforce and apply what you’ve learned through real-world case scenarios and practice exercises. While there is no substitution for on-the-job experience, preparation through study and hands-on practice can help you prepare for the exam. We recommend that you round out your exam preparation plan by using a combination of available study materials and courses.
The book will be available to purchase in June. For now, here is the Table of Contents as well as an excerpt from the book’s Introduction.
Chapter 1 ADO.NET Disconnected Classes Lesson 1: Working with the DataTable and DataSet Classes Lesson 2: Serialization, Specialized Types, and Data Binding Chapter 2 ADO.NET Connected Classes Lesson 1: Connecting to the Data Store Lesson 2: Reading and Writing Data Lesson 3: Working with Transactions
Chapter 3 Introducing LINQ Lesson 1: Understanding LINQ Lesson 2: Using LINQ Queries Chapter 4 LINQ to SQL Lesson 1: What Is LINQ to SQL? Lesson 2: Executing Queries Using LINQ to SQL. Lesson 3: Submitting Changes to the Database
Chapter 5 LINQ to XML Lesson 1: Working with the XmlDocument and XmlReader Classes Lesson 2: Querying with LINQ to XML Lesson 3: Transforming XML Using LINQ to XML Chapter 6 ADO.NET Entity Framework Lesson 1: What Is the ADO.NET Entity Framework? Lesson 2: Querying and Updating with the Entity Framework Chapter 7 WCF Data Services Lesson 1: What Is WCF Data Services? Lesson 2: Consuming WCF Data Services Chapter 8 Developing Reliable Applications Lesson 1: Monitoring and Collecting Performance Data Lesson 2: Handling Exceptions Lesson 3: Protecting Your Data Lesson 4: Synchronizing Data
Chapter 9 Deploying Your Application Lesson 1: Deploying Your Application
This training kit is designed for developers who write or support applications that access data written in C# or Visual Basic using Visual Studio 2010 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 and who also plan to take the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) exam 70-516. Before you begin using this kit, you must have a solid foundation-level understanding of Microsoft C# or Microsoft Visual Basic and be familiar with Visual Studio 2010.
The material covered in this training kit and on exam 70-516 relates to the data access technologies in ADO.NET 4.0 with Visual Studio 2010. The topics in this training kit cover what you need to know for the exam as described on the Skills Measured tab for the exam, which is available at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-516&locale=en-us#tab2.
By using this training kit, you will learn how to do the following: ■ Work with the ADO.NET disconnected classes ■ Work with the ADO.NET connection classes ■ Write and execute LINQ queries ■ Implement LINQ to SQL classes ■ Implement LINQ to XML in your applications ■ Implement the ADO.NET Entity Framework in your applications ■ Create and Implement WCF Data Service applications ■ Monitor and Collect ADO.NET performance data ■ Synchronize offline data ■ Deploy Data Access applications
Refer to the objective mapping page in the front of this book to see where in the book each exam objective is covered.
The following are the minimum system requirements your computer needs to meet to complete the practice exercises in this book and to run the companion CD. To minimize the time and expense of configuring a physical computer for this training kit, it’s recommended, but not required, that you use a virtualized environment, which will allow you to work in a sandboxed environment. This will let you make changes without worrying about your day-to-day environment. Virtualization software is available from Microsoft (Virtual PC, Virtual Server, and Hyper-V) and other suppliers such as VMware (VMware Workstation) and Oracle (VirtualBox).
Your computer should meet the following minimum hardware requirements: ■ 2.0 GB of RAM (more is recommended) ■ 80 GB of available hard disk space ■ DVD-ROM drive ■ Internet connectivity
The following software is required to complete the practice exercises: ■ Windows 7. You can download an Evaluation Edition of Windows 7 at the Microsoft Download Center at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/cc442495. ■ SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition is recommended because some labs and sample code use this edition for permanently mounted databases. An Evaluation Edition is available from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/bb851668.aspx. ■ SQL Server 2008 Express Edition is recommended because some labs and sample code use this edition for User Instance mounted databases. A full release is available from http://www.microsoft.com/express/Database.
■ Visual Studio 2010. You can download an evaluation edition from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/default. Although the labs and code samples were generated using Visual Studio 2010 Premium Edition, you can use the Express Edition of Visual Studio for many of the labs, which is available from http://www.microsoft.com/express.
The code samples are provided in Visual C# and Visual Basic. You will find a folder for each chapter that contains CS (C#) and VB (Visual Basic) code. In these folders, you will find the sample code solution and a folder for each lesson that contains the practice code. The Practice Code folder contains Begin and Completed folders, so you can choose to start at the beginning and work through the practice or you can run the completed solution.
A companion CD is included with this training kit. The companion CD contains the following: ■ Practice tests You can reinforce your understanding of the topics covered in this training kit by using electronic practice tests that you customize to meet your needs. You can run a practice test that is generated from the pool of Lesson Review questions in this book. Alternatively, you can practice for the 70-516 certification exam by using tests created from a pool of over 200 realistic exam questions, which give you many practice exams to ensure that you are prepared. ■ Code Samples All of the Visual Basic and C# code you see in the book you will also find on the CD. ■ An eBook An electronic version (eBook) of this book is included for when you do not want to carry the printed book with you. Companion Content for Digital Book Readers: If you bought a digital edition of this book, you can enjoy select content from the print edition’s companion CD. Visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Linkid=216910 to get your downloadable content. This content is always up-to-date and available to all readers.
When you start a lesson review, the Custom Mode dialog box appears so that you can configure your test. You can click OK to accept the defaults, or you can customize the number of questions you want, how the practice test software works, which exam objectives you want the questions to relate to, and whether you want your lesson review to be timed. If you are retaking a test, you can select whether you want to see all the questions again or only the questions you missed or did not answer. After you click OK, your lesson review starts. The following list explains the main options you have for taking the test: ■ To take the test, answer the questions and use the Next and Previous buttons to move from question to question. ■ After you answer an individual question, if you want to see which answers are correct— along with an explanation of each correct answer—click Explanation. ■ If you prefer to wait until the end of the test to see how you did, answer all the questions and then click Score Test. You will see a summary of the exam objectives you chose and the percentage of questions you got right overall and per objective. You can print a copy of your test, review your answers, or retake the test.
When you start a practice test, you choose whether to take the test in Certification Mode, Study Mode, or Custom Mode: ■ Certification Mode Closely resembles the experience of taking a certification exam. The test has a set number of questions. It is timed, and you cannot pause and restart the timer. ■ Study Mode Creates an untimed test during which you can review the correct answers and the explanations after you answer each question. ■ Custom Mode Gives you full control over the test options so that you can customize them as you like.
Microsoft certification exams are a great way to build your resume and let the world know about your level of expertise. Certification exams validate your on-the-job experience and product knowledge. While there is no substitution for on-the-job experience, preparation through study and hands-on practice can help you prepare for the exam. We recommend that you round out your exam preparation plan by using a combination of available study materials and courses. For example, you might use the Training kit and another study guide for your “at home” preparation, and take a Microsoft Official Curriculum course for the classroom experience. Choose the combination that you think works best for you.
Note that this Training Kit is based on publicly available information about the exam and the author’s experience. To safeguard the integrity of the exam, authors do not have access to the live exam.
Any plans for releasing books for 70-513 and 70-518?
The book will be very very helpful to the users & developers of visual studio 2010
Just one chapter, two lessons, covering Entity Framework? Given that EF is pretty much the bedrock of 70-516 just how useful can this training kit be??
I would be very keen to see Chapter 6's table of contents.