MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-515): Web Applications Development with Microsoft® .NET Framework 4

Having completed the Microsoft ASP.NET exam for .NET 3.5, I was eagerly awaiting the release of this book so that I could take the latest version of the exam. I was pleased to find that I could read this book (either via the Kindle edition, the PDF that comes with the book, or via the O'Reilly download) on my Kindle. Bear in mind, however, that the supplemental content that you can download from O'Reilly or Amazon (via O'Reilly) doe snot contain the practice exams. Those exams are only available withthe printed version on the CD - at least, as of the writing of this review. This revision of the book is phenomenal. Looking back on the prior edition for the .NET 3.5 ASP.NET certification exam, I recall feeling that the book left me prepared, but not completely. With that version, I recall several questions that left me guessing the correct answer and wondering why I'd not seen any reference to the topics in the book. In this revision, all those areas missing in the prior edition are addressed very specifically. Moreover, there was only one question on the exam that made me feel a topic area was not addressed - a significant improvement, though this is probably largely the result of the new topics added to this exam. In terms of content, this study guide hits every entry on the exam checklist in quite a bit of detail. The organization makes a reat deal of sense, with entries organized by topic, not simply control type or frequent use. There are minimal forward references (a drastic improvement over some of the books from the .NET 3.5 study guide series), providing a complete understanding of each topic in one section. One point I will make is that the information density of the text and examples is quite high. So high, in fact, that you should not skim the content of think that you can afford to miss a paragraph without mising an important point on the exam. The examples and text work well together to give very comprehensive coverage to every topic. You'll notice quite a few segments of text from the previous book, especially in areas where there was no change between ASP.NET 3.5 and ASP.NET 4.0, making this version a comfortable upgrade from the prior (if you read it). The practice exam provided on the CD is typical of test kit exams. In fact, the only changes are to some of the questions to target special features of .NET 4.0. As is typical, there are some questions that are incorrect or poorly worded, but there are relatively few of them. The test exam provides a very nice preparation for the real exam, encouraging additional reading or brief reviews (e.g. the ASP.NET page lifecycle) where the book may potentially come up short (though in my experience, the book itself was quite sufficient). In summary, this book is an excellent preparation guide for the Microsoft 70-515 exam. The content has been updated and reorganized from the previous version to address the new exam topics adn features for ASP.NET 4.0. I highly recommend this for anybody that would like to upgrade their skills, stay current, or simply find out about ASP.NET 4.0, MVC, and everything in-between.

I just completed my study and passed the 70-515 exam today. (820/1000) I used this book along with two different practice exams. I read the book cover to cover and took notes. I was cursing at the test screen today as I felt there were several questions that just were not fair but I guess I pulled it out. Anyway, as far as the book goes it DOES cover A LOT of what is on the exam and it really is the only self study guide I can see on the market. I have been using ASP.Net since it was in beta back in 2001 but not on a daily basis.I would warn everyone that the MVC section of the test seemed to be at least 30% or so of the questions and many of the questions where things simply not covered in this book. Also I would find some other guides for JQuery - particuarly about the $ajax/JSON type calls. There were alot of Ajax/WCF client scripting questions in general too and those on User/Web controls.The Microsoft exam covers such a huge scope of material that any one book (even at 1,000 pages) isn't going to cover it all. But this book really is a great basis for study. I also recommend doing the practice excercises - especially those on the Web Controls, MVC and DataSources.The book did a great job on two areas in particular - Web/User controls (espcially templated ones) and also on the DataSource objects that you can drop into pages. Also the book's explanation of the Linq queries was very good.I didn't use the practice exam that came with the book so I can't comment on it. Further, the questions in each chapter of the book are definitely useful but nothing like those on the exam.All in all I would say this book covers 70% of the exam, 20% is going to come from extra study on MVC/JQuery/Ajax and the other 10% is a complete mystery to me.

I took the test once prior to the book coming out, studying on my own based on the information microsoft learning provides about what will be covered. I did not pass so I decided to wait for the book to come out. I have not read everything in the book yet and while I do believe it may be helpful I am disappointed in the fact that all the topics on the exam are not given equal weight in the book. My particular concern is with jQuery as I know that was a bit of a trip up for me when taking the exam and only one section of one chapter touches on jQuery. If you look at the begining of the book it lays out what sections of the exam are covered by different sections of the book when you look at how many pages are associated with specific topics the page number disparity is obvious.Developing Web Forms Pages - 19% of the exam 161 pagesDeveloping and Using Web Forms Controls - 18% of the exam 183 pagesImplementing Client-Side Scripting and AJAX - 16% of the exam 91 pagesConfiguring and Extending a Web Application - 15% of the exam 204 pagesDisplaying and Manipulating Data - 19% of the exam 198 pagesDeveloping a Web Application by Using ASP.NET MVC 2 - 13% of the exam 45 pagesAdmitadly some sections of the book cover multiple sections of the test so this is not a 1-1 page count this is just page count based off the test section to book section table listed at the front of the book.To me it appears that the book very much underserves those who need to learn the Client-Side Scripting aspect or the MVC aspect of the test.I am not unhappy with this product as I believe I will be well served but I may still need to purchase another book to get my jQuery skills up to par. If you are looking at purchasing this book to give you at least minimal coverage of all the topics on the exam than this is a good book. If you need it for some very specific skillsets you might be best served by checking the sample Kindle version and verifying by the table of contents that what you need will be thouroughly covered.

There are so many errors in the book that you do need to be a bit familiar with the topic so you can take educated guesses as to what the author meant to write. The errors are not huge, but they will stop compilation. File names wrong, variable names wrong, that sort of thing.Despite the errors, they don't really cause a disaster. Because of this, it does us good to work out the errors and fix the code. It doesn't take long. Be positive and look on the bright side.There are also bits of information missing. So rather than complain and advise you not to buy the book, I would say buy the book and read around the topic by doing dummy exams or something to give yourself a full picture.There are some neat things in the book, like how he evolves the writing so that we start to think for ourselves and recall past chapters.Oh and also, maybe it's me, but sometimes I found it difficult to read and comprehend a sentence. Not very often - probably 10 times in the book.Not a great book, it's ok but it will be a help. I don't regret buying the book.

I bought this book for two reasons:1) to learn about the technology2) to pass the exam.The book is successful in giving an overview of the different technologies, but seems to scratch the surface. Many of the topics (jquery, MVC etc) would justify a book in their own right.Having studied the book and done the end of chapter practice questions, I turned to the practice tests on the CD. It quickly became apparent that there were a lot of questions which the detail in the book did not cover.I spent a lot of time going through all 200 question on the CD, making sure I understood why the answers were correct and the underlying principles.Then I sat the exam. I would estimate that a good half of the questions could not be answered by just studying the book and CD.I failed the exam, and don't feel that any amount of studying this material alone would enable me to pass. A lot of 'reading around' is required, and this isn't clear from the book.Having said that, the book is a useful overview as a starting point of the areas that you need to study. It's just not the whole picture.

The book is outdated

Good guide.

Great book if you are willing to take the test. Recommend.