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Hello all, I have a question that I have been trying to figure out myself but
I don’t think I have experience in the certifications to decide. And to be
honest once I start looking at all the certifications I find myself getting
lost.

What I want is to earn my MPCD for which I first need my MCTS which I
believe is 2 exams. My question is what; in your opinion is the best way to
go about it? I have been developing in .Net 2.0 for about a year and I have
used .Net 1.0 but not extensively. So as I see it I have 2 choices, start
with the MCAD then MCSD then upgrade to MCTS and finally the MPCD or skip the
first two and go right to the MCTS and MPCD.

The reason I need help with this decision is because I am not fully aware of
the differences between 1.0 and 2.0. I am not sure if there are some
fundamentals that I would learn taking the MCAD that would be worth the extra
time and effort. Basically I do want the certification but mostly I want to
learn the material the best way I can regardless of how long it takes.

Anyway any suggestions are welcome even if you see a different route.

Thanks

"smithsf22" <> wrote
> What I want is to earn my MPCD for which I first need my MCTS which I
> believe is 2 exams. My question is what; in your opinion is the best way
> to
> go about it

> I have been developing in .Net 2.0 for about a year and I have
> used .Net 1.0 but not extensively.

It sounds like you should take the two exams to become an MCTS. You're
probably best skipping the older certs.

> So as I see it I have 2 choices, start with the MCAD then
> MCSD then upgrade to MCTS and finally the MPCD or skip the
> first two and go right to the MCTS and MPCD.

Well, to get the MCAD is 3 exams ($375), to upgrade that to the MCSD it two
more exams ($250), and to upgrade that to an MCPD:Enterprise is 2 exams
($250).

At that point, you would be:
MCAD, MCSD, MCTS, MCPD, and would have taken 7 exams, and paid out $875 in
exam fees. You will probably pay about $500 in "practice exam" fees and
study material as well. This leaves your total at about $1300.

On the other hand, if you went directly for MCTS that's 2 exams ($250), and
to upgrade that to an MCPD is only 1 more ($125). You'll probably pay about
$250 in books and study materials. This means your total is about $625.

I went the MCAD->MCSD->MCPD:Enterprise route, but I did so while my employer
at the time was paying for it, and it was during the MCPD beta exam period.
(You can look for my old posts on the topic, in a variety of newsgroups).

> Basically I do want the certification but mostly I want to
> learn the material the best way I can regardless of how long it takes.

The new cert track is much better for this than the old one. The
concentrations within MCTS are better, and their focus on newer (more
relevant) technologies is also better.

--
Chris Mullins, MCSD.NET, MCPD:Enterprise, Microsoft C# MVP
http://www.coversant.com/blogs/cmullins

Chris Mullins [MVP] wrote:

> > Basically I do want the certification but mostly I want to
> > learn the material the best way I can regardless of how long it
> > takes.
>
> The new cert track is much better for this than the old one. The
> concentrations within MCTS are better, and their focus on newer (more
> relevant) technologies is also better.

I'm interested ; what do you mean ?

--

"Paul Robson" <> wrote
> Chris Mullins [MVP] wrote:

>> The new cert track is much better for this than the old one. The
>> concentrations within MCTS are better, and their focus on newer (more
>> relevant) technologies is also better.
>
> I'm interested ; what do you mean ?

For example, Web Services.
The old cert tack focuses on generic web services, but nothing really
advanced. While this is good, it's not a great focus. The new track goes
into detail in terms of WS-Security, setting up common scenarios, and such.
You've got to know what newer technology is relevant, and what isn't. For
example, if you used the old track, and the question came up, "How do you
transfer large chunks of binary data?" the answers are different. In the old
world, the answer was DIME. In the new world, it MTOM.

There are a number of scenarios like this throughout the tests...

--
Chris Mullins, MCSD.NET, MCPD:Enterprise, Microsoft C# MVP
http://www.coversant.com/blogs/cmullins