So I have to get a certification to progress in my job, and it needs to involve Microsoft .NET. OK. So I’m working through the MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) .NET web development training kit, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. In theory it’s all I need prepare for the 3 exams for the MCPD, 70-536, 70-528, 70-547.

Thoughts so far:

1. C# is surprisingly well-designed. Especially compared to say, PHP, which was only designed after the fact.
2. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the elegant high tech tool metaphor gracing the cover.
3. I love books instead of training, especially “online training”. But I need to map out a schedule and stick to it or it will get lost amid many other things.

So here, I went through the books and with Perl’s help, added up the estimates for each section, adding a 10 minute review on each chapter.

70-536 Foundations

ch 1: Framework Fundamentals (total: 2:20)

• lesson 1: 30 minutes
• lesson 2: 40 minutes
• lesson 3: 40 minutes
• lesson 4: 20 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 2: Input (total: 1:15)

• lesson 1: 20 minutes
• lesson 2: 20 minutes
• lesson 3: 10 minutes
• lesson 4: 15 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 3: Searching (total: 1:25)

• lesson 1: 45 minutes
• lesson 2: 30 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 4: Collections and Generics (total: 1:55)

• lesson 1: 15 minutes
• lesson 2: 10 minutes
• lesson 3: 30 minutes
• lesson 4: 30 minutes
• lesson 5: 20 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 5: Serialization (total: 2:05)

• lesson 1: 45 minutes
• lesson 2: 40 minutes
• lesson 3: 30 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 6: Graphics (total: 2:10)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• lesson 2: 30 minutes
• lesson 3: 30 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 7: Threading (total: 1:50)

• lesson 1: 20 minutes
• lesson 2: 40 minutes
• lesson 3: 40 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 8: Application Domains and Services (total: 1:40)

• lesson 1: 20 minutes
• lesson 2: 25 minutes
• lesson 3: 45 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 9: Installing and Configuring Applications (total: 1:35)

• lesson 1: 20 minutes
• lesson 2: 25 minutes
• lesson 3: 15 minutes
• lesson 4: 25 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 10: Instrumentation (total: 1:30)

• lesson 1: 20 minutes
• lesson 2: 20 minutes
• lesson 3: 20 minutes
• lesson 4: 20 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 11: Application Security (total: 2:40)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• lesson 2: 45 minutes
• lesson 3: 45 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 12: User and Data Security (total: 3:40)

• lesson 1: 90 minutes
• lesson 2: 30 minutes
• lesson 3: 90 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 13: Interoperation (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 20 minutes
• lesson 2: 20 minutes
• lesson 3: 20 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 14: Reflection (total: 1:35)

• lesson 1: 15 minutes
• lesson 2: 20 minutes
• lesson 3: 25 minutes
• lesson 4: 15 minutes
• lesson 5: 10 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 15: Mail (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 30 minutes
• lesson 2: 30 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 16: Globalization (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 20 minutes
• lesson 2: 40 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

70-528 Web-Based

ch 1: Introducing the ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site (total: 2:20)

• lesson 1: 30 minutes
• lesson 2: 60 minutes
• lesson 3: 20 minutes
• lesson 4: 20 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 2: Adding and Configuring Server Controls (total: 1:40)

• lesson 1: 30 minutes
• lesson 2: 60 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 3: Exploring Specialized Server Controls (total: 2:10)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• lesson 2: 60 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 4: Using ADO.NET and XML with ASP.NET (total: 3:10)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• lesson 2: 60 minutes
• lesson 3: 60 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 5: Creating Custom Web Controls (total: 2:10)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• lesson 2: 60 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 6: Input Validation and Site Navigation (total: 2:10)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• lesson 2: 60 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 7: ASP.NET State Management (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 30 minutes
• lesson 2: 30 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 8: Programming the Web Application (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 30 minutes
• lesson 2: 30 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 9: Customizing and Personalizing a Web Application (total: 3:10)

• lesson 1: 45 minutes
• lesson 2: 45 minutes
• lesson 3: 90 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 10: Globalization and Accessibility (total: 1:20)

• lesson 1: 40 minutes
• lesson 2: 30 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 11: Implementing Authentication and Authorization (total: 1:40)

• lesson 1: 45 minutes
• lesson 2: 45 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 12: Creating ASP.NET Mobile Web Apps (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 13: Monitoring, Deploying and Caching Apps (total: 2:00)

• lesson 1: 40 minutes
• lesson 2: 30 minutes
• lesson 3: 40 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

70-547 Designing

ch 1: Application Requirements and Design (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 40 minutes
• lesson 2: 20 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 2: Decompose Specifications for Developers (total: 1:25)

• lesson 1: 20 minutes
• lesson 2: 20 minutes
• lesson 3: 35 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 3: Design Evaluation (total: 0:30)

• lesson 1: 10 minutes
• lesson 2: 10 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 4: Creating a User Interface (total: 2:25)

• lesson 1: 90 minutes
• lesson 2: 45 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 5: Creating and Choosing Controls (total: 2:25)

• lesson 1: 45 minutes
• lesson 2: 90 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 6: Data Validation (total: 2:25)

• lesson 1: 45 minutes
• lesson 2: 90 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 7: Delivering Multimedia (total: 0:55)

• lesson 1: 45 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 8: Component Design (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 20 minutes
• lesson 2: 20 minutes
• lesson 3: 20 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 9: Component Development (total: 1:00)

• lesson 1: 30 minutes
• lesson 2: 10 minutes
• lesson 3: 10 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 10: Reusable Software Components (total: 1:40)

• lesson 1: 90 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 11: Application Logic Layer (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 30 minutes
• lesson 2: 30 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 12: Logging and Monitoring (total: 1:25)

• lesson 1: 40 minutes
• lesson 2: 35 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 13: Application Configuration (total: 1:10)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 14: Define and Evaluate a Testing Strategy (total: 1:05)

• lesson 1: 30 minutes
• lesson 2: 25 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 15: Creating Development Tests (total: 1:50)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• lesson 2: 20 minutes
• lesson 3: 20 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 16: Deploying an Application (total: 2:25)

• lesson 1: 45 minutes
• lesson 2: 45 minutes
• lesson 3: 45 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

ch 17: Supporting an Application (total: 2:10)

• lesson 1: 60 minutes
• lesson 2: 60 minutes
• review: 10 minutes

Totals:

70-536 Foundations: 26:30 70-528 Web: 23:10 70-547 Designing: 23:30