MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536): Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Application Development Foundation

I also have the newer (corrected) version of the book (check the copyright page in the beginning of the book, mine lists version: 5 6 7 8 9 QWT 1 0 9 8 7). Despite the numerous corrections, I still find some errors, even those that are unlisted in the errata list. When looking at the four KB articles on the Microsoft site, the errata list shows a gap between part 3 and 4. So I think there is something missing in the errata.

For example: an error I discovered today, on page 712, the second bullet reads:

"One or more PrincipalPermission properties. Use Authenticated to restrict access to authenticated users, Role to restrict access by group memberships, and User to restrict access to a specific user name."

This is incorrect, there is no 'User' PrincipalPermission property. Replace 'User' with 'Name'.It should read instead:

"One or more PrincipalPermission properties. Use Authenticated to restrict access to authenticated users, Role to restrict access by group memberships, and Name to restrict access to a specific user name."

This is in particular a strange error, because on the previous page the authors says:

"Memorize these three properties (Authenticated, Name, Role). Remember, PrincipalPermission doesn't expose any other properties--not a user's full name, phone number, password, or any other attribute."

For the rest of the book, I found the topics are not very well explained. Except for the chapter dealing with Code Access Security, which I found was very clear. In general, I did not like the fact that there are so few images in the book that could clarify the text. Sometimes the text alone is a litte bit boring to read. But then again, it's part of the job, no?

As there is no alternative for this book yet, I hope I will pass my exam by using this book and some internet resources... We'll see.

Good luck to all exam takers!

This books structure makes it very easy to get a chapter a night done and prepare you for the exam. The labs are good and the accompanying DVD contains both practice exams and a trial version of Visual Studio 2005, so you have everything you need in one book.

This exam is only half of an MCTS qualification, so you'll need either the Web Development or Windows Development to go with it if you want an actual qualification.

I only had issue with one or two of the answers given to questions, but I found it quite encouraging that I was able to think 'hey, that's not the best way to achieve that'.

This book is a good start, but you won't pass the test by just reading it. Experience and practice test will go a long way to help.

Comming from the 1.0 and 1.1 framework, this book really helped me get up to speed with 2.0. It covers many new capabilies and enhancements of the new framework (isolated storage, generics, etc...). This is my "MAIN" reference book now... its almost like my programming bible. :)

OK, this book is a little dated, but I got a really good chuckle from an anecdote relayed by one of the authors that is still funny. Early in the book, on page 68, Mr. Wildermuth attempts to assert his expertise to the reader by declaring that he has "written hundreds, if not thousands, of lines of code". I have shown this little blurb around to many of my colleagues and clients. It has turned into somewhat of a euphemism for a n00b. For instance:

Dev1: "How did the interview go with Ted?"
Dev2: "Not great. He's got a good personality, but his skill set is a little weak."
Dev1: "What kind of stuff has he worked on?"
Dev2: "I would say that he has probably written hundreds, if not thousands, of lines of code."
Both: "ROFL!"

or

Dev1: "Holy cow! Come over here and look at this mudball of code that I have to support now."
Dev2: "Wow! You're not kidding. Who wrote this?"
Dev1: "Who do you think? Joe."
Dev2: "Oh man, he's written hundreds ..."
Dev1: "If not thousands!"
Dev2: "... of lines of code."

All that said, this book does the job. It helped me pass the test. I have taken quite a few Microsoft exams and I have usually turned to the Microsoft Press Self-Paced Training Kit books as a first resource. This book lives up to the good name the series has earned for itself.

I see from many of the reviews here that readers are disappointed if the book doesn't spoon feed them all the way through the exam. I would say that, for myself, preparing for an exam includes a multi-pronged approach. It starts with these books and continues to MSDN and Transcender. But most importantly, I think you have to definitely open up Visual Studio and practice. Write some code! Maybe even hundreds, if not thousands, of lines. ;)