Not that this isn't generally a site for
Java, but I figured that I'd post something about my experience taking the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist exam (Web Client Development specialty), since I was involved in the conversation about such earlier last month and finally got through both parts of it.
For the record - this is basically the equivalent of passing both the
SCJP and SCWCD exams. The experience includes one exam on the fundamentals of the language of your choice (VB or C#) and one on the web-based technologies for writing a client application.
70-536 (Development Fundamentals) is an exam on the language proper, with the syntax and configuration portions one would expect. It wasn't all that hard, having come from the Java environment and transitioned into C# as a matter of having to learn it for a job assignment. For this portion, while there were some things that required some serious study (C#, for instance, handles encryption entirely differently), it was mostly a matter of just learning where the method names were different. I did rather well, if I do say so myself.
70-528 (Web-based Client Development) was a different story. Where C# and Java are very similar on a language level, the web-based technologies are almost entirely different. JSPs and
Servlets do not translate rather well over to the concepts of controls, web parts and ADO.NET, and as a result, I found myself cramming severely for a few weeks while trying to juggle it with my usual job (which has been, admittedly, comprised mostly of making controls for the last few weeks while I work with a Sharepoint project). This was probably my worst
testing experience since working on the
SCEA, so if that gives anyone some basis....
The end result is that I did pass the second exam today. I would have to say that one is highly advised, if considering moving over to the Dark Side, to look into the Microsoft Press materials (especially the self-paced training books) and at the PrepLogic MegaGuides as a last-minute study aide. (I wouldn't skimp and just go with the PrepLogic materials, nor would I solely depend on those books alone with a lack of experience - I learned the hard way that not everything on the exam is covered in the books.)
I still stand that I think that while there are equivalences between the two programs, there's sufficient differences between them to keep the programs from being compared on the level of apples to apples.
As was pointed out in the prior thread, you don't have to take the exams in any order - 70-528 is sufficient to get a Certified Professional certificate, whereas in the Java realm, you'd have to take the language fundamentals exam first.The Microsoft exams also just cover so much more material per exam than Sun's. 70-528 covers the equivalent of JSP, JSF, Servlets, Portlets and writing clients for mobile devices, as well as material that would normally fall under JDBC...Microsoft's exams are also not provider-agnostic, as I pointed out during the prior exam. You're fully expected, during 70-528, to understand how to configure IIS, both graphically and programmatically. In 70-536, you are asked tasks involving Visual Studio. It would be like being asked to know how to do some of the tasks for designing a GUI using NetBeans, or how to configure database pools in Tomcat or WebLogic.I noticed this during today's exam: Microsoft's questions seem to be grouped by topic when you're taking the exam. You're given all the questions on Developing ASP.Net Mobile Apps at once, for instance. I rather prefer the more random distribution I get with Sun's (and other companies') exams where if I hit a question on a topic I'm weak on, I'm given other things oftentimes and a chance to recover before having to plow back into it. (Just an emotional inertia issue.)The MS exams are shorter, with more ambiguous scoring. I do so like walking into a Sun exam knowing I need "61%" to pass - take the number of questions (often in the sixties or seventies) and do the proper multiplication. MS's exams are on a scale, with "700" being passing. Seven hundred out of? With questions worth? And on 45 questions per exam, that's not a lot of wiggle room. I'm getting to the point, though, with some of these study materials, that I'm tempted afterwards to take my notes and write up a better study guide. (Something like ".Net Certification for Java Professionals" or the like.) I
haven't been a slacker with things for C# while I've been pressed into double-duty as my office's specialist on "all things weird", and I find that Microsoft seems to expect a broader base of knowledge (and probably an accordingly larger span of applications to be developed) from their specialist certification candidates. This will only get exacerbated as rumors out of Microsoft Learning indicate a move towards eventually having "simulation" questions on all MCTS exams, which to me would seem to indicate actual writing of code being involved.
So, my verdict: I think that preparing for the .Net certification exams was certainly a good experience. I feel like I've accomplished something by getting the credential. I don't know that I'd necessarily want to go through it again (two exams in seven weeks for one "base-level" credential). Now it's off to see what my employer thinks of it.