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... Home ... Cert Basics ... Certification Articles

MCSD

Premier title for application developers, programmers, and system architects who use Microsoft technology.

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June 2001

MCSD

The Microsoft Certified Solution Developer certification is aimed at those who need to prove skills in designing and developing applications with Microsoft tools, technologies, and architectural schemes. The types of programs that MCSDs are able to develop include desktop applications and multi-user, Web-based, n-tier, and transaction-based applications.

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On Feb. 13, 2002, Microsoft created a new version of the title, dubbed MCSD for .NET. (At the same time, Microsoft introduced a similar title for similar title developers of programs, MCAD, was created for those whose main skill encompass writing specific programs, modules and code, sometimes for larger systems.)

The primary candidate for the MCSD has a job title such as software developer, software engineer, software applications engineer, or technical consultant.

Besides specific developer skills, Microsoft suggests that candidates have at least two years of experience in the following areas:

  • Analyzing customer needs and creating requirement specification documents for client/server solutions in multiple business domains.
  • Process modeling, data modeling, component design, and user interface design.
  • Designing, developing, and implementing a client/server solution.
  • Integrating new systems and applications into legacy environments.
  • Developing Windows-based and Web applications.

Achieving the premier MCSD certification comes with many benefits:

  • Industry recognition of your expertise.
  • The right to use the MCSD logo on business collateral.
  • A certificate, transcript, wallet card, and lapel pin to identify you as an MCP to colleagues and clients.
  • Access to technical and product information direct from Microsoft through a private MCP Web site.
  • Discounts on products and services (such as Microsoft Developer Network).
  • Invitations to Microsoft and MCP Magazine conferences, technical training sessions, and special events.
  • You can join the MCP Database, a peer-to-peer database that lets you locate others in your geographic area with similar interests.
  • Potential college credit for your certification through Excelsior College, a private, independently chartered institution providing means for working adults to demonstrate college-level competencies and to earn accredited college degrees.

The MCSD track based on the original 70-100 Analyzing Requirements exam consists of passing four tests—three core exams and one elective, as shown in the following table:

Requirement Exam
1 Solution Architecture 70-100, Analyzing Requirement and Defining Solutions Architectures
1 Desktop Applications Development 70-016, Designing Desktop Applications with Visual C++ 6.0
or
70-156, Designing Desktop Applications with Visual FoxPro 6.0
or
70-176, Designing Desktop Applications with Visual Basic 6.0
1 Distributed Applications Development 70-015, Designing Distributed Applications with Visual C++ 6.0
or
70-155, Designing Distributed Applications with Visual FoxPro 6.0
or
70-175, Designing Distributed Applications with Visual Basic 6.0
1 Elective

Choose from the following:

  • Any Desktop or Distributed Applications exam above that you are not using to fulfill the "core" requirement.
  • 70-019, SQL Server 7.0 Data Warehouses
  • 70-029, SQL Server 7.0 Design
  • 70-229, SQL Server 2000 Design
  • 70-055, Designing Web Sites with FrontPage 2000, Enterprise
  • 70-057, Site Server 3.0, Commerce Edition
  • 70-091, Designing Solutions with Office 2000/VBA
  • 70-105, Designing Collaborative Solutions with Outlook 2000/Exchange Server 5.5
  • 70-152, Designing Web Solutions with Visual InterDev 6.0

The MCSD for .NET track requires four core and one elective:

Requirement Exam
1 Solution Architecture 70-300, Analyzing Requirements and Defining .NET Solution Architectures
1 Web Application Development 70-305, Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Visual Basic .NET and Visual Studio .NET
or
70-315, Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Visual C# .NET and Visual Studio .NET
1 Windows Application Development Exam 70-306—Developing and Implementing Windows-based Applications with Visual Basic .NET and Visual Studio .NET
or
Exam 70-316—Developing and Implementing Windows-based Applications with Visual C# .NET and Visual Studio .NET
1 Web Services and Server Components

Exam 70-310—Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Visual Basic .NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework
or
Exam 70-320—Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Visual C# and the Microsoft .NET Framework

1 Elective

Choose from the following:

  • 70-229, Designing and Implementing Databases with SQL Server 2000, Enterprise Edition
  • 70-230, Designing and Implementing Solutions with BizTalk Server 2000, Enterprise Edition
  • 70-234, Designing and Implementing Solutions with Commerce Server 2000

In each core component, Microsoft will provide core credit for only one exam. That is, if you take 70-305 to satisfy the Web Application Development section, you won't get credit for 70-315 toward the MCSD.NET; however, it will still appear on your transcript among exams you passed.

You must take the exams in person at Prometric and VUE testing centers. end article

You can contact the editors about MCSD at editor@mcpmag.com.
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...readTESTS TO ACHIEVE MCSD

See MCP Newsflash (no exams in beta yet) (Beta)

70-090 Deploying Office 2000 (In development)

70-015 Designing Distributed Visual C++ 6.0 Applications (Live)

70-016 Designing Desktop Visual C++ 6.0 Applications (Live)

70-019 Designing SQL Server 7.0 Data Warehouses (Live)

70-057 Designing Site Server 3.0 Commerce Solutions (Live)

70-086 Supporting SMS 2.0 (Live)

70-088 Supporting Proxy Server 2.0 (Live)

70-091 Designing Office 2000/VBA Solutions (Live)

70-100 Analyzing Requirements (Live)

70-105 Designing Outlook 2000/Exchange Server 5.5 Collaboration (Live)

70-152 Designing Visual InterDev 6.0 Web Solutions (Live)

70-155 Designing Distributed Visual FoxPro 6.0 Applications (Live)

70-156 Designing Desktop Visual FoxPro 6.0 Applications (Live)

70-175 Designing Distributed Visual Basic 6.0 Applications (Live)

70-176 Designing Desktop Visual Basic 6.0 Applications (Live)

70-229 Designing SQL Server 2000 Databases (Live)

70-230 Designing BizTalk Server 2000 Solutions (Live)

70-234 Commerce Server 2000 (Live)

70-300 Analyzing Reqs, Defining .NET Sol. Architectures (Live)

70-305 Developing Web Apps with VB .NET/VS .NET (Live)

70-306 Developing Windows Apps with VB .NET/VS .NET (Live)

70-310 Developing XML/WS with VB .NET/.NET Framework (Live)

70-315 Developing Web Apps with Visual C# .NET/VS .NET (Live)

70-316 Developing Windows Apps with VC# .NET/VS .NET (Live)

70-320 Developing XML/WS with VC# .NET/.NET Framework (Live)

70-022 Designing SQL Server 4.2 Databases (Retired)

70-024 Developing C++/MFC Library Applications (Retired)

70-025 OLE 2.0 in MFC 4.0 Applications (Retired)

70-027 Designing SQL Server 6.5 Databases (Retired)

70-051 Access 2.0 Application Development (Retired)

70-052 Developing Excel 5.0/VBA Applications (Retired)

70-054 Programming in Visual FoxPro 3.0 (Retired)

70-065 Programming with Visual Basic 4.0 (Retired)

70-069 Access 95 and the Access Developer's Toolkit (Retired)

70-150 Windows Operating Systems/Systems Architecture I (Retired)

70-151 Windows Operating Systems/Systems Architecture II (Retired)

70-160 Windows Architecture I (Retired)

70-161 Windows Architecture II (Retired)

70-165 Programming in Visual Basic 5.0 (Retired)


Find More Exams:
...read Select a Certification or Test from the Exam Guide:

...read MCP BY THE NUMBERS
MCP 963,606
MCSA-W2K 104,703
MCSA-W2003 11,314
MCSA:Messaging 15,499
MCSA:Security 2,091
MCSE-NT 394,807
MCSE-W2K 244,153
MCSE-W2003 5,604
MCSE:Messaging 3,082
MCSE:Security 2,505
MCDBA 122,586
MCAD.NET 15,769
MCSD 45,150
MCSD 7,744
MCP+I 229,139
MCP+SB 2,040
MCSE+I 12,456
Total: 2,182,248

Numbers indicate total certifications per title as of April 14, 2004.

Courtesy of Microsoft Corp.


...read NEWS

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Windows, SBS OEMs Get Competency Exam 1/27/05

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New BizTalk Competency Exam Debuts 1/20/05

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New Exams Target Competencies 12/14/04

...read NEWS ARCHIVE



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