A question about the eligibility for MCPD

Discussion in 'MCAD / MCSD / MCPD' started by alankamp2003, Jun 30, 2012.

  1. alankamp2003

    alankamp2003 New Member

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    I am an experienced java developer and want to add .NET to my list of skills. I don't have any professional experience with .NET and want to get the MCPD certification. Will I be allowed to take the exams even though I haven't developed in .NET at a professional level? If not, what would be the way, if any for me to be able to get the MCPD certification?
    Thanks,
    Alankar
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 30, 2012
  2. dmarsh
    Honorary Member 500 Likes Award

    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    Anyone may take the tests, they are computer based tests offered by Prometric.

    The problem is passing the exams with little or no experience will be extremely challenging.

    What do you have experience developing in ? Have you done any Windows development in C++ or VB ? Have you done any traditional ASP ? Are you familiar with MS SQL Server or SQL ? Are you familiar with web standards, HTML, XML, XPath, XSD, JavaScript, SOAP ? Do you have a reasonable understanding of Operating Systems and Networks ? Do you understand design and architecture ?

    Having done development with a modern high level language with garbage collection like Java should help you learn basic C# 2 syntax pretty quickly. However there are some differences in syntax and design. There is also a lot of new things added since C# 2 like LINQ which you will need to know for the current .NET 4 tracks.

    If you go the web route you will need to learn JQuery, ASP .NET, MVC3, Razor, etc.

    If you go the desktop route you will need to learn WinForms and WPF/XAML.

    Either way you will need to learn WCF, ADO .NET, some design and architecture also.

    The training guides are pretty cheap, around £30 each, you could always buy a couple and have a look at them to see what you are in for before committing yourself.

    So yes you can take the exams, but really its not recommended as they are designed to prove that you've got 2-3 years in depth experience of using the stuff every day. Getting to the same level by self study in your spare time is going to be a big ask.

    Also remember adding .NET to your list of skills doesn't require certification.

    There are new Java 7/8 features you can learn and new JVM languages like Scala and Clojure. So even in the Java world you still probably have things to learn.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2012
  3. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    I honestly don't see the point.
    A certification in something you have no experience with will be of no use to you.
    You can't put it on your CV (well, you could, but it would be apparent to an employer that you didn't have the skills they were looking for).

    If you want to learn .NET then go ahead and learn it, then certify if you still feel that you need to.
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD

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