Candidates for this exam use Microsoft Visual Studio to develop data-access portions of applications. Candidates should have a minimum of two to three years of experience developing Web, Windows, or distributed applications by using the Microsoft .NET Framework. Candidates should have a thorough understanding of relational database concepts and should have a minimum of one to two years of experience using Microsoft SQL Server and other relational database management systems, such as Oracle, DB2, and MySQL.

When you pass Exam 70-561: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Application Development, you earn credit toward the following certifications:

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Applications

Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD): Enterprise Applications Developer 3.5

Skills measured by Exam 70-561:

Connecting to Data Sources (12 percent)

Manage connection strings. Manage connection objects. Work with data providers. Connect to a data source by using a generic data access interface. Handle and diagnose database connection exceptions. - Selecting and Querying Data (22 percent)

Build command objects. Query data from data sources. Retrieve data source data by using the DataReader. Manage data by using the DataAdapter or the TableAdapter. Execute an asynchronous query. Handle special data types. Query data sources by using LINQ. Manage exceptions when selecting data.

- Modifying Data -

Manage transactions. Manage data integrity. Update data. Manage exceptions when modifying data. Transform data by using LINQ.

- Synchronizing Data (15 percent) -

Monitor event notifications. Cache data. Manage update conflicts between online data and offline data. Partition data for synchronization. Implement Synchronization Services.

- Working with Disconnected Data (16 percent) -

Manage occasionally connected data. Programmatically create data objects. Work with untyped DataSets and DataTables. Expose a DataTableReader from a DataTable or from a DataSet. Work with strongly typed DataSets and DataTables.

- Object Relational Mapping by Using the Entity Framework (11 percent) -

Define and implement an Entity Data Model. Query data by using Object Services. Map data by using the Entity SQL Language. Access entity data by using the EntityClient Provider.