Web Applications with Visual InterDev 6.0 MCSD Training Kit

This official Microsoft training kit delivers comprehensive preparation for MCP Exam 70-152-an elective exam on the Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) track. Through a self-paced system of lessons and hands-on labs, students learn how to analyze, design, build, and implement Web-based solutions using Microsoft Visual InterDev version 6.0. The training helps build competency in critical skill areas defined by the MCSD program: analyzing business requirements, defining technical architecture, developing the conceptual and logical design, designing a user interface and user services, deriving the physical design, establishing the development environment, creating user services, creating data services, testing, deployment, and Web site management. Self-assessment questions and complete model application on CD-ROM supplement and extend the learning experience. By the end of the course, students have applied real-world development skills to the creation of a full-featured data-driven Web application-and they're ready for the MCP exam.

Aimed at Microsoft Certified Software Developer (MCSD) students, Web Applications with Microsoft Visual InterDev 6.0 MCSD Training Kit offers preparation for the 70-152 examination. Since it concisely encapsulates the technologies related to Visual InterDev development, it also serves as a crash course for seasoned developers interested in moving to the Microsoft development platform.

The book is structured as a self-paced course that uses formal lessons and exercises to illustrate all concepts. A companion CD-ROM includes all of the media and pages you'll need to build the core sample application--the Chateau St. Mark Hotel site. Brief videos give the reader quick overviews of exercises before they dive in, and separate Solution and Partial folders contain complete and "in progress" file sets, respectively.

This is a fast-paced book with brief overviews of each new feature and minimal line-by-line explanation during the exercises. The numbered exercise instructions precisely guide the reader through the construction of new pages and scripts, but it's really up to the student to dive into the code and become intimately familiar. One nice convention of this Microsoft Press series is a table in the front that lists the various skills necessary for completing the targeted exam and pointers to related exercises in the book. If the MCSD applicant draws a blank on RDS right before the examination, for example, this table will point him or her to the right section for cramming.

While this book sports the look and feel of a textbook, a reader who diligently follows the lessons will finish the guide with a solid understanding of Web development the Microsoft way. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: Web development process, Dynamic HTML, Document Object Model (DOM), Active Server Pages, COM components, ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), Remote Data Service (RDS), Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), Security issues, mail service integration, FrontPage Search Bot and Index Server, and multimedia integration.