The 70-518 exam is one of the new Visual Studio 2010 exams covering the .NET Framework 4. Official title is: Designing and Developing Windows Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework. Exam available from summer of 2010.
The 70-518 exam will test your knowledge and skills on appropriate job role decisions around Windows-based applications on the desktop using Windows Forms and WPF. You'll need to have strong skills in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and other Windows Forms technologies using the .NET framework 4.
This exam requires the following MCTS .NET 4 prerequisites:
- MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Windows Applications
- MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Service Communication Applications
- MCTS: .NET Framework 4, Data Access
Important: You'll need to pass all of these MCTS exams before you can achieve the MCPS: Windows Developer 4 certification.
Since this is an MCPD certification exam, the bar is raised to a higher level. You'll need to think outside of the box and not just about code but more about designs and best practices. Candidates for the MCPD 4 certification typically have two to three years of relevant experience and a commitment to remaining current in best practices and technologies.
As usual, questions that contain code will be presented in either VB or C#. You get the choice to select which language you prefer when you start the exam. Officially, Microsoft recommends that you work on a team in a development environment that uses Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2010 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 to develop desktop applications. They suggest that a minimum of three years of experience developing applications, including one to two years of experience developing Windows-based applications is best. However, the most important thing is that have a thorough understanding of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Windows Forms technologies in the .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.
Before you take the 70-518 exam you should have the following experience:
- Designing Windows client applications that access data and services
- Designing data access layers and service layers for a Windows client application
- Planning and designing user interaction solutions
- Full development life cycle of Windows client applications
- Developing and deploying to multi-tier environments
Other topics covered include:
Designing the Layers of a Solution
- Design a loosely coupled layered architecture
- Design service interaction
- Design the security implementation
- Design for interoperability with external system
- Design for optimal processing.
- Design for globalization and localization
Designing the Presentation Layer
- Choose the appropriate Windows Client technology
- Design the UI layout and structure
- Design application workflow
- Design data presentation and input
- Design presentation behaviour
- Design for UI responsiveness
Designing the Data Access Layer
- Choose the appropriate data access strateg
- Design the data object model.
- Design data caching
- Design offline storage and data synchronization
- Design for a concurrent multi-user environment.
- Analyze data services for optimization
Planning a Solution Deployment
- Define a client deployment strategy.
- Plan a database deployment.
- Design a solution update strategy.
- Plan for n-tier deploymen
Designing for Stability and Maintenance
- Design for error handling
- Evaluate and recommend a test strategy
- Design a diagnostics and monitoring strategy
When you pass the 70-518 exam (Pro: Designing and Developing Windows Applications Using Microsoft .NET Framework 4) you achieve the following certification:
MCPD: Windows Developer 4
If you would like to take a free practice test for the 70-518 exam, then check out our
free practice exams section.