Help required regarding certification and C#

Dan

Hi guys,

I hope you can help.

I want to start work as a trainee developer and to do this I plan to train myself up in C# and .NET.

In order to prove to employers that I have done this work, I plan to take the Microsoft exam 70-536: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework, Application Development Foundation.

However, the only self study material available at the moment is the Microsoft self paced kit. I've read mixed revues about this book unfortunately. Some people say it's good but a lot say it's not and apparently it contains many errors which could easily confuse beginners. I see that a second edition of the book is coming out in October though, so what I thought I'd do is wait until the second edition comes out and, in the mean time, begin studying C#.

Is this a good idea, heading towards this exam?

I was wondering if anyone knew of a good book to start studying C#? I was thinking of the Microsoft book 'Visual C# 2008 Step by Step' by John Sharp. I've looked at this and a couple of other books; they all come with CD's but none of them say if the CD includes any sort of version of C# to practice on. Could anyone tell me if the books would include a copy of C# to practice on or would I have to go out and purchase it?

I'm not at all sure how these things work so forgive me if I sound naive.

Thanks very much,

Dan.

4 Replies

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Ryan Alford18y ago
Accepted answer
I would advise against taking the 536 exam right now. It is a VERY HARD test. and given that you are a beginner, it will be very rough on you. Look into taking the 516 exam which will focus more on C# using .Net 1.1. the 536 exam is strictly on .Net 2.0 framework and is not language specific.
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Dan18y ago
Hi Ryan,

Thanks, that's brilliant. I really appreciate the help.

Kind regards,

Dan : )
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Dan18y ago

Thanks very much Scott, that's brilliant, I really appreciate your help : )

Could anyone tell me if this route of training myself up in C# and .NET while I wait for the new edition of the study material from Microsoft to come out in October on the exam 70-536: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework, Application Development Foundation is a good thing to do?

Also could anyone tell me if the software needed to work on C# and .NET is included with the books?

I really am just beginning and don't know any of this I'm afraid.

Thanks very much indeed,

Dan.
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Scott Lysle18y ago
There are a lot of great books out there; Andrew Troelsen's "Pro C# with .NET 3.0" on Apress is one, "Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008" by Matthew MacDonald and Mario Szpuszta on Apress is a good ASP.NET book for the current generation of the product from web side; Stephan Walther's ASP.NET 2.0 or 3.5 books are also good books on ASP.NET. The "Professional C# 2005" book from Wrox was also pretty good.

You might want to take a look at the e-books section of this site (http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Ebooks/) to check out some of the C# books there; the e-books are a lot cheaper than their printed counterparts.
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