Over 292,796

Introduction

The test is a tool, or assessment, used to prove a certain bar of proficiency for information technology professionals and pertaining to Microsoft products.   The exam is two to three hours in length and contains a variety of multiple-choice questions, along with drag and drop, solution building and simulated content, wherein test takers must execute common administrative tasks.  It is almost evenly divided, percentage wise, into four nearly equivalent parts:  managing program flow; creating and using types; debugging applications and implementing security and implementing data access.  It is based on Microsoft virtual studio technology.

Exam Description

Why is this exam required

Passing any one of the Microsoft Certification exams allows you to become a member of the Microsoft Certified Professional Community, also known as MCP.  This community allows you access to benefits provided through its member site.

Successful completion of this examination counts as credit toward Microsoft Developer (MCSD) certification (Windows store applications using C#) Solutions Developer and Microsoft Specialist certification.

Things you will need to know for the exam include:  core syntax and features of C#; basic structure and elements of a desktop application; en/decryption of data using a/symmetric encryption; how to create and use custom attributes; how to generate code; how to improve the response time of applications; using tasks and asynchronous operations, how to use XAML to build a graphic interface; use System Net namespace types to access and question remote data, as well as perform these tasks with WCF; also perform this with ; create entity data models for databases; Record/express data utilizing in/output and streams; serialize differing formats of data; create/call methods; catch/handle exceptions and give accurate descriptions of large apps’ monitoring requirements.  Achievement of this certification can open up jobs, such as the following for you:

• Software developer
• Web developer
• Quality engineer

Associated exams

In order to get the MCSD: Windows Store Apps Using C#, you will also need exam 484 Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps Using C# and 485 Advanced Windows Store App Development Using C#.

Prerequisites

This exam, also known as, Programming in C# is the prerequisite to achieve the Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer  or MCSD, or Windows Store Apps using C# certification.  Developers wishing to take this exam should have a minimum of one year of experience under their belts with programming essential business logic or app logic for a variety of application types and soft/hardware platforms, with the aid of C#, because these will be evaluated on the examination.

Objectives of the exam

Managing Program Flow: 25%

This includes using ParallelFor, Plinq and Tasks, as well as asynchronous and await keywords; implementing asynchronous processing and multithreading; managing multithreading using ThreadPool; synchronization; implementing program flow; creating and implementing events and callbacks; implementing exception handling. 

Creation and Use of Types  24%

Included here:  creating types (generic types, methods, parameters and properties); consuming types; enforcing encaspsulation; creating and implementing class hierarchy; finding, executing and creating types using reflection at runtime using CodeDom and lambda expressions; using types Assembly, PropertyInfo, MethodInfo,Type from the System Reflection namespace; managing the life cycle of an object and manipulating strings using StringBuilder, StringWriter and StringReader.  Class hierarchies are also queried here.  Included in this are interfaces base classes. 

Debugging Applications and Implementing Security  25%

Herein, you will find:  validating output of applications; performing symmetrical and asymmetrical encryption; hashing data; building (computer directives, assemblies[versioning and signing, using strong names]);managing assemblies; debugging applications and implementing diagnostics in an application.  :

Implementing Data Access  26%

This section will include the following:  performing operations; data consumption; manipulation of data using LINQ; serialization and deserialization of data; storage and retrieval of data from collections.

Career Prospects

A wide variety of job opportunities are out there for folks with this certification.  The positive news is that for the next five years, indicators are that a thirty percent increase in hiring is expected in software developers, i.e. applications developers.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts this line of work will grow fourteen percent faster than any other.  Another positive with this type of job is the creativity you may be able to enjoy during your workday.  You will need to stay abreast of technological advances: read professional magazines, blogs and join professional organizations.  Jobs in IT pay well; those at large companies will look for specialists with niche expertise, while those at small companies look to hire an IT employee who is a Jack (or Jill) of all trades.  These jobs also pay extremely well.  Some jobs to consider would be:  programmer, software consultant, IT troubleshooter, data manager or designer.