How This Book Helps You

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This book gives you a self-guided tour of all the areas of the product that are covered by the VB .NET Web Applications exam. The goal is to teach you the specific skills that you need to achieve your MCAD or MCSD certification. You'll also find helpful hints, tips, examples, exercises, and references to additional study materials. Specifically, this book is set up to help you in the following ways.

Organization

This book is organized around the individual objectives from Microsoft's preparation guide for the VB .NET Web-based Applications exam. Every objective is covered in this book. They're not covered in exactly the same order that you'll find them on the official preparation guide (which you can download from http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/exams/70-310.asp), but I've reorganized for more logical teaching. I've also tried to make the information more accessible in several ways:

• This introduction includes the full list of exam topics and objectives.

• The Study and Exam Tips section should be read early on to help you develop study strategies. It also provides you with valuable exam-day tips and information.

• Each chapter starts with a list of objectives covered in that chapter.

• Each chapter also begins with an outline that provides an overview of the material for that chapter as well as the page numbers where specific topics can be found.

• I've also repeated each objective in the text where it is covered in detail.

• The tear card in the front of the book provides you with a handy cross-reference between test objectives and page numbers in the book.

Instructional Features

This book has been designed to provide you with multiple ways to learn and reinforce the exam material. Here are some of the instructional features you'll find inside:

• Objective Explanations . As mentioned previously, each chapter begins with a list of the objectives covered in the chapter. In addition, immediately following each objective is a more detailed explanation that puts the objective in the context of the product.

• Study Strategies. Each chapter also offers a selected list of study strategies: exercises to try or additional material to read that will help you in learning and retaining the material that you'll find in the chapter.

• Exam Tips. Exam tips appear in the margin to provide specific exam- related advice. Such tips might address what material is likely to be covered (or not covered) on the exam, how to remember it, or particular exam quirks .

• Review Breaks and Summaries. Crucial information is summarized at various points in the book in lists of key points you need to remember. Each chapter ends with an overall summary of the material covered in that chapter as well.

• Guided Practice Exercises. These exercises offer you additional opportunities to practice the material within a chapter and to learn additional facets of the topic at hand.

• Key Terms. A list of key terms appears at the end of each chapter.

• Notes. These appear in the margin and contain various kinds of useful information such as tips on technology, historical background, side commentary , or notes on where to go for more detailed coverage of a particular topic.

• Warnings. When using sophisticated computing technology, there is always the possibility of mistakes or even catastrophes. Warnings appear in the margin to alert you of such potential problems, whether they're in following along with the text or in implementing VB .NET in a production environment.

• Step by Steps. These are hands-on, tutorial instructions that lead you through a particular task or function relevant to the exam objectives.

• Exercises. Found at the end of each chapter in the "Apply Your Knowledge" section, the exercises may include additional tutorial material and more chances to practice the skills that you learned in the chapter.

Extensive Practice Test Options

The book provides numerous opportunities for you to assess your knowledge and practice for the exam. The practice options include the following:

• Review Questions. These open -ended questions appear in the "Apply Your Knowledge" section at the end of each chapter. They allow you to quickly assess your comprehension of what you just read in the chapter. The answers are provided later in the section.

• Exam Questions. These questions also appear in the "Apply Your Knowledge" section. They reflect the kinds of multiple-choice questions that appear on the Microsoft exams. Use them to practice for the exam and to help you determine what you know and what you might need to review or study further. Answers and explanations are provided later in the section.

• Practice Exam. The "Final Review" section includes a complete practice exam. The Final Review section and the Practice Exam are discussed in more detail later in this chapter.

• PrepLogic. The PrepLogic software included on the CD-ROM provides further practice questions.

Final Review

This part of the book provides you with two valuable tools for preparing for the exam:

• Fast Facts. This condensed version of the information contained in the book will prove extremely useful for last-minute review.

• Practice Exam. A full practice test for the exam is included. Questions are written in the style and format used on the actual exams. Use it to assess your readiness for the real thing.

This book includes several valuable appendices as well, including overviews of ADO.NET (Appendix A) and XML (Appendix B), a glossary (Appendix C), and an overview of the certification process (Appendix D). Appendix E reviews the content of the CD-ROM, while Appendix F covers the use of the PrepLogic software. Finally, Appendix G provides you with a list of "Suggested Readings and Resources" that contains useful information on Visual Basic .NET and the .NET Framework.

These and all the other book features mentioned previously will provide you with thorough preparation for the exam.

For more information about the exam or the certification process, you should contact Microsoft directly:

By email: [e-mail]

By regular mail, telephone, or fax, contact the Microsoft Regional Education Service Center (RESC) nearest you. You can find lists of Regional Education Service Centers at http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/support/northamerica.asp (for North America) or http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/support/worldsites.asp (worldwide).

On the Internet: http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/

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