To obtain your MCSD .NET certification, you must pass four core exams and one elective exam. You will be happy to know that several topics are repeated in three of the core exams (70-305/315, 70-306/316, and 70-310/320). This is good news for you because once you get a handle on these topics, you will be able to apply your knowledge to all of these exams. Although the fourth core exam (70-300) primarily tests your analytical skills, you will find some of this information useful here as well. Here are the seven areas that you should know well in order to obtain your certification:

ADO.NET
Without a doubt you will find large sections of ADO.NET material on the .NET exams. Knowing this material is crucial to getting your MCSD .NET certification. Most .NET applications will involve database connectivity, so it is not difficult to understand why Microsoft places such heavy emphasis on ADO.NET in its exams.

You should understand four main classes in ADO.NET: Connections, Commands, Adapters, and DataReaders. Know the difference between the OleDb and the SQL versions of these classes, and know the common properties and methods of these classes, including how to connect to a database, build a connection string, build SQL statements that are used by commands, and use data adapters to reconcile DataSets. Code snippets are used frequently in these exams, so you should be familiar with proper syntax for using these classes. Be able to recognize the differences between the ExecuteNonQuery, ExecuteScalar, ExecuteReader, and ExecuteXmlReader methods of the SqlCommand class. Know how to open a DataReader and iterate through its data. Other concepts to understand include how to use stored procedures, specify input parameter values, and obtain output parameters.

DataSets is another very important class that is covered in the MCSD .NET exams. These data containers can be thought of as in-memory databases: they contain tables, rows, columns, relationships, and constraints. You should be aware of how DataSets are filled with data, how they are cloned, how a subset of data (such as deleted records) is obtained from a DataSet, how schemas are utilized, and how changes are applied to the data source. You should also be familiar with creating DataTables, ForeignKeyConstraints, UniqueConstraints, and DataRelations. Make sure you understand DataViews and how they manipulate data from a DataTable. Know the different classes that deal with XML, from XmlDocument to XmlReader, and what methods DataSets use to read and write XML data.

Finally, though not directly related to ADO.NET, you should be familiar with controls such as the DataGrid and Calendar, which can be bound to data. Know how to bind them to a DataSet or DataView, and how to modify their properties.

Security
Microsoft is making great strides in promoting security in its products, including the .NET Framework. So expect to find your knowledge of security put to the test. Though you may not find as many questions regarding security as you will regarding ADO.NET, you will certainly have a difficult time passing these exams without a good understanding of these concepts.

Be familiar with the Principal and Identity classes and how they relate to each other. Understand the difference between the Generic and Windows versions of each class. You should know how to authenticate a user and how to authorize a user's access to computer resources. Be sure that you understand the differences between Asserting and Demanding permissions. You should be familiar with the different configuration files that control authorization at the application and at the computer level. Finally, make sure you comprehend the .NET Framework tools that assist with security, such as Permview.exe. You will likely see more security-related questions on the 70-306/316 and 70-310/320 exams than on the 70-305/315 exam.

Debugging
Without a doubt, you should thoroughly understand the differences between the Debug and the Trace classes. Also be aware of how to turn on debugging in a production application, as well as how to modify the level of debugging. Know how to send debugging information to Windows event logs and to TraceListener objects. You will also be tested on some relatively simple debugging topics, such as breakpoints. Make sure you are familiar with the different debugging windows, such as the Autos window and the Immediate window.

Web Services
Microsoft has been touting Web services as an important technology, and inclusion of Web services-related material in all of the core MCSD .NET exams is expected. As the name of the exam implies, you will be tested in greater depth about Web services in the 70-310/320 exam, but you will still need to know the basics for the other core exams. Be familiar with the rudimentary aspects of communicating with a Web service and know how and when to obtain a Web services proxy.

Event and Error Handling
The way events and errors are handled in the .NET Framework is quite different from that with which many programmers are familiar. Therefore, make sure that you have a good grasp of this topic. You should know how to write a handler for an event, including which parameters are passed to the handler. It is also important to know how to use the Try..Catch..Finally block to process errors. Learn the different types of exceptions that can be handled, including those specific to ADO.NET.

Internationalization
In order for your applications to be used all over the world, you must build them with other cultures in mind. You should understand how to make your application respond with different text and pictures depending on the culture with which it is being used. You should understand the spoke-and-wheel methodology regarding the creation and location of satellite assemblies that contain culture-specific resources. Be sure you comprehend the RightToLeft controls property.

Assemblies/GAC
One of the biggest changes that accompany the .NET Framework is the new global assembly cache. You should know how and when to place assemblies (DLLs) into the GAC, how to sign them with a strong name, and when to use a strong name. You should be familiar with the .NET Framework utility Sn.exe, as well as some of its parameters. Learn how to use namespaces to organize classes in your assemblies.

When you begin studying for these .NET exams, you will find the MSDN documentation of great help. Some questions seem to be pulled directly from certain MSDN articles. If you don't have the MSDN documentation on CD, you can access the articles online at www.msdn.microsoft.com. You can use exam simulations such as those produced by Transcender as a way to practice for the exams and to identify your weak areas in order to focus your studying.

Conclusion
It is difficult to say how much of each exam is covered by these seven topics, but half is probably a good estimate. You will also have to study additional topics that are featured only in specific exams. For example, the 70-306/316 exam will test your knowledge of Windows Forms, which will in no way be covered by the 70-305/315 exam, which deals with Internet applications. However, by studying these seven areas, you will greatly enhance your chances of obtaining that coveted MCSD .NET certification.

About The Author
Phil McCollum has been a Transcender developer for three years, has eleven years of Visual Basic programming experience and serves as primary developer for Transcender's .NET products. Transcender exam simulations are consistently voted "Best Practice Exam" by IT professionals. phil.mccollum@transcender.com