It just feel great after earning the highest certificate in the developer track (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer: Enterprise Application Developer). As being a Microsoft Certified Trainer, I am trying to find technical ways to deliver these levels of certificate back at New Horizons Cairo. The problem is there no official materials (MOCs) from Microsoft to deliver these certificates, which make it even harder to study and prepare for the exam.
There is a light of hope comes from Microsoft Press. Microsoft Press released 3 books addressing the problem of lacking a material for you preparation for one of the MCPD certificate (MCPD Web, MCPD Windows, MCPD Enterprise). These books cover most of the exams areas of interest.
So, the important question, how I did it? The answer is simple. The main goal of MCPD certificates is to demonstrate a practical knowledge of building and designing applications (build diagrams, take appropriate design decisions…), while MCTS certificates (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) the technical knowledge. It is a fact you must be MCTS certified before you could be MCPD certified (unless you got you MCSD .NET before). So, this is what it takes to be MCPD:
1. Prove you technical knowledge by earning appropriate MCTS certificate.
2. Has at least 2 years of experience of writing code and designing solutions.
3. Study the corresponding Microsoft Press Training Kit (you can get a professional training at New Horizons Cairo, which covers both MCTS and MCPD requirements).
4. Now you are ready to take the exam.. good luck.
Let me know if any of this information had helped you..
Mohamed Saif El-Nasr
Technical Trainer – New Horizons
Microsoft Certified Trainer
MCTS SQL Server 2005
MCTS .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications
MCTS .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Applications
MCTS .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Applicaitons
MCPD Enterprise Application Developer