Microsoft offers several developer certifications and exams covering various Microsoft technologies including the .NET framework. There are several good reasons for pursuing Microsoft Developer Certifications and for choosing .NET as a framework for your Web and Windows applications:
- The free Visual Studio Express editions – These are limited but still very functional editions of Visual Studio, which allow you to create applications using many of the topics in the exam objectives.
- Suitability for beginners – Both the Visual Studio Express editions and several of the exams mentioned in this overview do not require you to be a seasoned developer/programmer. You don’t need to be a mathematician either, although both will obviously be an advantage.
- Microsoft supports the multiple different languages (and corresponding Visual Studio Express editions) for developing in the .NET 2.0 Framework: Visual Basic, C#, C++, and J#. Depending on the exam, you must choose a language when you start the exam that will be used for the code segments in exam questions. You can usually choose between Visual Basic 2005 and Visual C# 2005, and sometimes Visual C++ 2005.
- Although the majority is not created for the certification exams covered in this overview, the .NET framework, Visual Studio, and especially Visual Basic and C# are widely supported on the Internet.
The main downside is that the applications you create require the .NET framework, which typically runs on Windows only.
Before we go over the ‘current’ Microsoft Developer certifications let’s have a look at the older ones. The following two certifications are still available for version 1 and 1.1 of the .NET framework:
MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer)
This certification covered several topics over a total of 4 core exams: .NET solution architecture, Web development, Windows development, and XML Web services and server components, and one elective exam. For three of the core exams, candidates can choose between VB and C#.
MCAD (Microsoft Certified Application Developer)
The MCSD was overkill for many developers so Microsoft created the MCAD, which focuses on building, deploying, and maintain Microsoft Windows and Web applications, while the MCSD also includes analyzing and designing enterprise solutions. The MCAD requires two core exams and one elective.
For those who have a lot of experience with the .NET framework 1.0 and/or 1.1 could still go for the above and possible later upgrade to the following certifications. But in general, it’s better to pursue one of the following newer certifications:
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