Certification choices

This article was originally published in VSJ, which is now part of Developer Fusion.
Application developers traditionally seek and get offered positions and projects based on experience (i.e. their CVs) rather than exam-based qualifications. However, the Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) programme has demonstrated that qualification genuinely validates a Visual Studio developer's knowledge of Microsoft tools and platform services. To be certified may not be essential, but it certainly adds significant value.

"Classic" MCSD

MCSD in its current form was defined in 1998, and the requirement is to pass 3 core exams and 1 elective exam (see Figure 1). Two core exams, covering "Desktop" and "Distributed" applications, test your Visual Studio 6.0 knowledge with a choice of VB 6.0 or C++ and Visual FoxPro exams.

Figure 1

The other core exam is mandatory, and is the one that poses the greatest challenge for most developers: "Analyzing Requirements and Defining Solution Architectures" (70-100). This exam is intended to distinguish "solution developers" from "programmers" – all MCSDs must pass this. The exam tests business systems analysis and design skills; it is case study based, and tests design skills using graphical tools.

The elective exam is from a choice of 'back-office' technologies including SQL Server, Commerce Server, BizTalk Server and IIS-based applications using Visual InterDev. Three other elective options, based on Office 2000/VBA, Outlook/Exchange and Site Server 3.0 Commerce Edition, cease to be available after June 2003.

Is 'classic' MCSD still relevant?

There is a lot of Visual Studio 6.0 code around, and COM-based solutions will be with us for years to come, so we shouldn't dismiss this "old" certification just yet: if you have taken some of the exams, go ahead and do the others. One concern is that the syllabus was defined for NT4.0 with Microsoft Transaction Server and IIS4.0, and these are still the featured technologies. With .NET pending, the exam syllabus wasn't updated for Windows 2000 developers, which is perhaps a shame.

The choice of electives depends on your personal focus. Choose Visual InterDev (70-152) if that's your area of expertise and you're planning to work on ASP projects, but otherwise its relevance is diminishing. The BizTalk Server and Commerce Server options are appropriate only if you expect to work with those specific products. The best value elective is SQL Server 2000 (70-229), since it's genuinely useful in many situations, and also counts towards other Microsoft certifications.

MCSD for Microsoft .NET

The new "MCSD for Microsoft .NET" features a different breakdown of skills, requiring four core exams and one elective (see Figure 2). Three core exams test skills with Visual Studio.NET and the .NET Framework: developing and implementing Web Applications, Windows-based applications, and "XML Web Services and Server components". All of these exams are available in either Visual Basic.NET or C# versions, and all are available now.

Figure 2

The fourth core exam is the new mandatory Analysis/Architecture exam (70-300). This tests analysis and modelling skills using object-oriented techniques and tools provided with Visual Studio.NET Enterprise Architect Edition. The choice of elective for "MCSD .NET" is currently from three: SQL Server 2000, BizTalk Server 2000, or Commerce Server 2000. Only choose Commerce Server if you have a very specific project requirement. The product has been superseded and is entirely COM/ASP-based (not .NET). BizTalk Server development is based on very useful XML/XSL and "Application Integration" skills, but this is still a specialised area and, again, the product has been superseded. If you want your certification to be of real practical use in a broad range of situations, go for the SQL Server 2000 option.

MCAD

"Microsoft Certified Application Developer" is the most achievable and arguably the most marketable Microsoft developer certification, requiring two core exams and one elective, all from the "MCSD .NET" syllabus (see Figure 3). One core exam is from a choice of Web or Windows-based application development. The other, developing XML Web Services and Server Components, is mandatory. All are available in VB.NET or C# versions.

Figure 3

The elective choice includes all three MCSD options, plus the opportunity to validate your skills on Windows or Web application development, whichever you didn't do for the core exam. You can't take both VB.NET and C# exams in any area and expect them both to count!

What should I do?

MCSD is a 'premier' certification, entitling the holder to various Microsoft privileges. MCAD is not, but it is more realistic for many developers. 'Classic' MCSD is still a relevant and useful certification, although the exams are rather dated and, when the architecture exam comes out, MCSD.NET will be more attractive for the future.


Andy Thomson is a Principal Technologist at QA, where he advises on technology trends, runs advanced training courses for developers, and provides tutoring for MCSD. An active full-time presenter, he has been busy authoring material for QA's curriculum for Microsoft .NET language courses.

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