{ sankool.net }

When I start to blog recently and about 3 blogs in just a week people expected me to blog on regular basis specially knowing the fact that am in Austria and nothing much to do. Well I was preparing myself for WPF certification, and was busy in reading “MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-502): Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5 Windows® Presentation Foundation” by Matthew A. Stoecker.

I was really impressed after going through the structure of the book. It was well organized and the flow of topics was well maintained. It covers most of the topics and concepts required for getting started with WPF and building your application but the author expects you to have a good knowledge of .Net framework and basic programming knowledge. Examples like in most of the books are provided in C# and VB, so language over here is not more of an issue, and yes XAML is used too.

After reading this book I found it more focused to a developer and many of designer related topics like 2D and 3D are missing, but after going through the skill set required for this exam I found it to be quite comprehensive.

Also the point that I will like to make is that this book is totally meant for preparing for the exam and not quite useful if you are new to WPF and want to start learning it right away. For this will really recommend Pro WPF in C# 2008, with a caution that this book is language specific while the preparation guide is not.

My final verdict:

·  In-depth coverage of exam objectives and sub-objectives—plus instructive case studies and troubleshooting scenarios to enhance your performance on the job

·  300+ practice and review questions (in CD that comes along with the book)

·  Test engine that enables customized testing, pre-assessment and post-assessment, and automated scoring and feedback (in CD that comes along with the book)

·  Handy exam-mapping grid available at the end of index.