About This Book

Each topical Exam Cram 2 chapter follows a regular structure and includes graphical cues about important or useful information. Here's the structure of a typical chapter:

• Opening hotlists Each chapter begins with a list of the terms, tools, and techniques you must learn and understand before you can be fully conversant with that chapter's subject matter. I follow the hotlists with one or two introductory paragraphs to set the stage for the rest of the chapter.

• Case study Most chapters include a case study. The purpose of this is to get you acquainted right away with the technique of separating relevant from irrelevant information in a printed case study. The exams are not above putting in seemingly important, but ultimately useless, information in a case study that is intended to make you think twice. Real-life architecting is a lot like this. Read Chapter 1 first.

• Topical coverage After the opening hotlists, each chapter covers a series of topics related to the chapter's subject title. Throughout this section, I highlight topics or concepts likely to appear on a test using a special Exam Alert layout, like this:

  

  This is what an Exam Alert looks like. Normally, an Exam Alert stresses concepts, terms, software, or activities that are likely to relate to one or more certification test questions. For that reason, any information found offset in an Exam Alert format is worthy of extra attentiveness on your part.

  
  

  Pay close attention to material flagged as an Exam Alert; although all the information in this book pertains to what you need to know to pass the exam, I flag certain items that are especially important. You will find what appears in the meat of each chapter to be worth knowing, too, when preparing for the test.

  Because this book's material is very condensed, I recommend that you use this book along with other resources to achieve the maximum benefit.

• Practice questions Although I talk about test questions and topics throughout each chapter, this section presents a series of mock test questions and explanations of both correct and incorrect answers. I also try to point out especially tricky questions by using a special icon, like this:

  Ordinarily, this icon flags the presence of a particularly devious inquiry, if not an outright trick question. Trick questions are calculated to be answered incorrectly if not read more than onceand carefully, at that. Although they are not ubiquitous, these questions make regular appearances on the exams. That is why we say exam questions are as much about reading comprehension as they are about knowing your material inside out and backward.

• Details and resources Every chapter ends with a section titled "Need to Know More?" It provides direct pointers to Microsoft and third-party resources that offer more details on the chapter's subject. If you find a resource you like in this collection, use it, but don't feel compelled to use all the resources. On the other hand, I recommend only those resources I use regularly, so none of these recommendations will be a waste of your time or money.

The bulk of the book follows this chapter structure, but there are a few other elements I'd like to point out.

Just before Chapter 1 is a "master" case study. This case study is "in scope" for the entire book and is often referred to in the chapter text or the practice questions at the back of each chapter. I advise bookmarking this case study, as you will be referring back to it often.

Chapters 1 through 11 intentionally mirror the Microsoft exam preparation guide, with some chapters covering only part of one of the seven major objectives to balance out the size of the chapters. Table 1 breaks down the objective areas by chapters.

Table 1. 70-300 Exam Topics and Chapter Cross-References

Microsoft Exam Topic	Chapter(s) Covering This Topic
Envisioning the Solution	1
Gathering and Analyzing Business Requirements	2, 3, and 4
Developing Specifications	5
Creating the Conceptual Design	6
Creating the Logical Design	7 and 8
Creating the Physical Design	9 and 10
Creating Standards and Processes	11

Chapter 12, as mentioned earlier, is an in-depth look at how to work with case studies effectively. It does not directly relate to the exam guidelines posted by Microsoft, but does relate to taking the exam itself.

Chapters 13 and 15 are practice exams that provide a good review of the material presented throughout the book to ensure you're ready for the exam. Chapters 14 and 16 are the respective answer keys to those practice exams. Additionally, you will find appendixes with information about what you can find on the CD and how to use it, a glossary that explains terms, and an index you can use to track down where terms appear in the book.

Finally, the tear-out Cram Sheet attached next to the inside front cover of this Exam Cram 2 book represents a condensed collection of facts, tricks, and tips that you should memorize before taking the test. Because you can dump this information out of your head onto a piece of paper before answering any exam questions, you can master this information by brute forceyou need to remember it only long enough to write it down when you walk into the test room. You might even want to look at it in the car or in the lobby of the testing center just before you walk in to take the test.

The case studies and practice questions can be the most useful parts of the entire book. Read the case studies. Do the practice questions.

If you find errors, sections that could be worded more clearly, or questions that seem deceptive, please feel free to let us know by e-mail at [e-mail].