|  | Author: Tony Northrup
Publisher: Microsoft Press
List Price: $69.99
Buy New: $36.99
as of 11/22/2009 13:03 CST details
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Seller: a_cautious_guy
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 4584
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 2 Har/Cdr
Pages: 794
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.4 x 2.3
ISBN: 0735626197
Dewey Decimal Number: 005
EAN: 9780735626195
ASIN: 0735626197
Publication Date: November 12, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Showing reviews 21-24 of 24
 70-536: Hopefully a Third Time Will Be a Charm February 9, 2009
Robert V. Abrams III (Niagara Falls, NY USA)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I have read the 2nd Edition of this book and have noticed too many errors from the get go. Anyone who is serious about passing the Application Development Foundation exam MUST cross-reference with MSDN. MSDN will cover the topics with a level of detail appropriate for having the skills to pass the exam.
Hopefully, Northrup will get it right with a 3rd Edition, hence the title.
 A Guide To Professional Suicide January 19, 2009
Mark Bondurant (Camarillo, CA USA)
13 out of 21 found this review helpful
"MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536): Microsoft® .NET Framework Application Development Foundation, Second Edition (Self-Paced Training Kits)" is a mostly successful attempt to correct the travesties of it's occasionally apocryphal predecessor, "MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536): Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Application Development Foundation". Northup seems to be to have ironed out most of the bugs. The book is still inadequate as a prep book for the test, but I think you can at least count on it as a useful guide and reference. Hey, it even has a proper index. It's unusually good for a Microsoft Press book -- who publish anything that can pass a spell checker.
The test itself if a vast hodgepodge of .NET leftovers, a sort of dumping ground of subjects, with no single focus and a huge domain of subject material. The preceding book was over a thousand pages and was still inadequate in covering the material. Combine that with the usual lack of imagination and interest endemic of all MS certifications with questions like "pick the right method signature" or "find the block of code that doesn't have a bug" and you have a test that achieves nothing, but foster bitterness and anger towards Microsoft. As with its predecessor, I think you will see a lot of that bitterness expressed in book reviews. In this case, the book really doesn't deserve it. It may be a bit unimaginative, heck even boring, but it's competently written.
The book is not without humor, though it's unintentional. Northup is a rabid advocate of regex functions. He never passes up an opportunity to work them in. To those of us who have experience outside of the Microsoft culture, this looks a bit like a Japanese man raised on rice wondering the American Mid-West evangelizing the wonders of wheat bread. I've seen a lot of this test and I've never seen a single question on regex. The new list of test requirements have added a single requirement for it and there may now be a question in there, but considering the vastness of the subject of regex itself and the appalling amount of useless material you have to memorize (that Microsoft will just dump or pave over in three years) for the test, that I think you can just sigh, roll your eyes and move on. It does also make a good example of the inherent weakness of the monoculture that Microsoft has created.
One complaint that I've heard that I think is valid is that the author feels the need to teach the subjects. The book, and its predecessor, spent a lot of time explaining individual subjects. This is great and it does make the book useful. I know I will keep it handy. But it doesn't help with the test, and you need all the help you can get with this one. I'll be blunt -- this test is bad, very bad -- and the last thing you need is to be filling precious storage with non-useful information, at least non-useful as far as surviving the test. What good is learning these subjects if you can't pass the test? The book needs to be one or the other.
If you have to pick this or its predecessor, pick this one. Really, I think you will need both and then about 200 or 300 knowledge base articles. None of this material is adequately covered anywhere. [...].
Enough to Pass, a good starting point if you're looking for more January 15, 2009
J. Comstock
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
Overall, if you're considering taking the 70-536 exam, I recommend getting this book (not that there are a lot of alternatives). It may contain a few errors (honestly, I don't recall anything significant, right off hand), but the 2nd edition definitely alleviates at least most of the scores of pages of errors found in the first edition. Don't get the cheaper old edition: it's worth it to pay for the updated version, if only to avoid having to go through the 50+ pages of errata with the first edition.
This book does not cover everything in the same depth as the test, so if this is your only study tool, don't expect to feel completely comfortable when taking the exam or expect to "ace" it. As other posters have stated, you will need to do some of your own research if getting every question right is your goal. However, using ONLY this book as a study tool you CAN pass. Passing was my goal, and to that effect, this book accomplished its purpose effectively.
The tests provided on the CD did not seem much easier than the questions on the exam. Others may have had a different experience, but that was mine. I did notice that I "memorized" the answers rather quickly, and am glad I saved the tests on the CD until after I had already worked through the book, and could still use them to help polish my knowledge.
Good book but not enough December 24, 2008
Dennis Rongo (Sacramento, CA USA)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
I read this book from front-to-back and performed a lot of the exercises. For the most part, I've found errors in the answer keys within the end of chapter questionnaires and some of the coding examples given. While an error is acceptable to a certain degree, it is somehow unforgivable when it comes to studying for an exam since you need the absolute answer for everything. A book can potentially lose its credibility once a reader finds inconsistencies within its context. It's a battle but experience can play a big role in determining the best solution, even in the exam.
I may also add that the sample questions given in the book and CD are way easier than that of the real exam. It doesn't even compare. I passed it but I had to find some other way means of reading up some details/references that the book lacks. Reading this book is only half the battle. I honestly can say that this is a good starting point since it covers the basic and fundamentals of various subjects. Since the exam covers much more in-depth for each subjects, you'll find yourself looking somewhere else in addition to what you've learned from this book. I end up going to MSDN a lot just to look up a topic and find out more about it.
To sum it up, get this book as a starting point to get you on the right track then research the topics and learn the little details on your own.
Showing reviews 21-24 of 24
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