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

Dieses Buch gibt einen allumfassenden Überblick über das .Net Framework. Es hat Referenzen der wichtigsten Framework-Klassen der einzelnen Themen. Man hat am Ende ein fundiertes Wissen über die vielen Bereiche die das Framework abdeckt.
In jedem Kapitel ein "Realworld Scenario" und Übungsaufgaben. Zudem noch Frage und Antwort nach jeder Lektion.
Der Glossar am Ende des Buches scheint mir etwas klein, deckt aber die wichtigen Begriffe des Buches ausreichend ab.

The practice exams are a great help. I also like the fact that it includes a searchable pdf version of the book.

The pluses:
- It covers the items in the exam and gets you basically familiar with them.
- It has the practice tests CD which is very helpful.

The minuses:
- It doesn't cover the items in the exam enough to pass the exam.
- It has many errors.
- It is poorly written so that you don't always understand fully what can or can't be done with the item you are studying.
- Most of the time you will need to look at MSDN or the Framework help to get the full concept of the item you are studying.
- Some of the lesson test questions are out of order so you get asked about something that isn't covered until the next chapter or lesson.

Overall:
I'm glad I got it. It is going to help me get through the exam, but it could be a much better product if more care had been taken in its production.

So many errors that it has to be done in 2 parts

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923018/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935218/en-us

It looks like I still have ver 1 I'm still seeing the errors listed on the Microsoft website and I just purchased the book 01DEC07. This is really, really bad. This is something I don't need trying to study for this exam.

With an exam as broad as this exam is, it's probably next to impossible to find one author with the depth of knowledge in each topic to write a manual and develop the labs that are found in this piece. However, the employment of an editor and overall UX specialist would work wonders to making the material presented in this book more streamlined, user friendly and less disjointed.

You can tell that different chapters were written by different authors. This goes from writing style in the text itself all the way down to sample code and labs found on the accompanying CD. C'mon, for the amount of effort put into this type of manual, and the perceived 'stakes' involved in passing these tests, give us some materials that are consistent so that as learners, we aren't distracted by the inconsistencies.

The exam simulation software sucks. The user experience there is dismal - dismal on the order of Windows 95 user experience dismal. You would be better off biting the bullet and picking up the Self Test Software exam prep package for this particular exam.

Overall, the material covered in this guide, paired with significant on-the-job experience and supplemental exam prep (like the STS packages mentioned above) should be more than sufficient to pass the exam covered. But don't use this book as your sole preparation tool.

Again, at 1050+ pages, I would like to see electronic only versions of these types of books. Especially considering the extremely short life span that technology books have. If you can find a way to get an electronic-only version and avoid buying the hardback, then go that route instead.