When you pass this exam, you achieve Microsoft
Certified Professional status and earn core credit toward Microsoft Certified Solution Developer
certification.
This certification exam measures your ability to design,
build, and implement business solutions by using Microsoft tools
and technologies. Before taking the exam, you should be
proficient in the following job skills.
Component Technologies
Explain the benefits of the Component Object Model (COM)
as a model for the developing of software.
Discuss the use of the ActiveX™ and the OLE
technologies as implementations of the COM.
Explain the implementation of Automation in the Microsoft
Windows operating systems.
Identify situations in which Remote Automation is an
appropriate technology to use in order to provide a
desirable solution.
Compare component architectures on the basis of
performance, maintainability, and extensibility.
Identify which ActiveX technologies are appropriate for
use in implementing a given business solution.
Assess structured storage as a component of a given
solution.
Discuss the use of Uniform Data Transfer (UDT) as part
of a component solution.
Evaluate the use of one or more of the following in a
given component solution: compound documents, OLE
embedding and linking, and OLE drag and drop.
Evaluate the use of Active Documents as a component of a
solution for a given business problem.
Identify the appropriate use of ActiveX controls within
component solutions.
Database Access Technologies
Given a scenario, choose the appropriate data access
tool.
Evaluate Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) as a
component of a given business solution.
Compare solutions that use ODBC, on the basis of
performance, maintainability, and interoperability.
Explain the benefits of Active Data Objects (ADO).
Explain the benefits of Remote Data Objects (RDO).
Compare Data Access Objects (DAO) with other potential
components of a solution, such as ODBC or RDO.
Explain the benefits of SQL Distributed Management
Objects (SQL-DMO).
Compare OLE Database (OLE DB) with the ODBC API and with
native APIs as a means of retrieving data in a given
scenario.
Operating System Awareness
Identify situations in which it is appropriate to store
persisted data in the registry.
Identify key architectural differences between Microsoft
Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows NT®.
Describe the architecture of Windows Open Services
Architecture (WOSA) technologies, including Dynamic Link
Libraries (DLLs), memory management, and scheduling.
Describe how the Windows operating systems manage
threads, processes, and scheduling.
Given a scenario, identify the appropriate type of
inter-process communication to use. Types of
inter-process communication include:
DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange)
NetDDE (Network Dynamic Data Exchange)
Windows Sockets
Named pipes
Memory-mapped files
NetBIOS
Choose from 16-bit Windows operating systems,
Windows 95, Windows NT Workstation, and Windows NT
Server for satisfying a set of requirements.
Choosing Development Tools
Identify situations in which elements of Microsoft
Office, Microsoft BackOffice™, and Microsoft Visual
Tool Suite are components of an appropriate solution.
Choose appropriate objects from within Microsoft Office,
Microsoft BackOffice, and Microsoft Visual Tool Suite as
components for a given solution.
Choose a development system to use as a tool to provide a
solution for a given business problem. Development
systems include:
Microsoft Visual Basic®
Microsoft Visual J++™
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Visual C++®
Microsoft Visual FoxPro™
Development Methodologies
Given a scenario, discuss the use of the Microsoft
Solutions Framework (MSF) to guide development, testing,
and deployment of a business solution.
Identify strategies for using source-code control to help
manage the development process in a given development
environment.
Internet and Intranet
Choose the appropriate protocol for a given application
on the Internet or on an intranet.
Choose an appropriate design for content for an intranet
or for the Internet, based on bandwidth and latency
considerations.
Use Internet Data Connector (IDC), Active Server
Pages (ASP), or Microsoft FrontPage™ to provide
Internet or intranet database connectivity.
Choose the appropriate ActiveX technologies for a given
Web-based application.
Given a scenario, evaluate a Web-based client
application.
The readings listed in this section will help you prepare for
this exam. Most of the readings are available from Development Library. For others, the
appropriate Web locations are given.
Component Object Model
"The Component Object Model: A Technical
Overview"
ActiveX Architecture
"How OLE and COM Solve the Problems of Component
Software Design"
"The ActiveX Technology Family"
Remote Automation
"The Remote Automation Enigmas: When, Why, and
How"
Product Documentation, Visual Basic 4.0 Professional and
Enterprise Editions, Building Client-Server Applications
book
OLE Structured Storage
Inside OLE 2, Chapter 7, Structured Storage and
Compound Files
"OLE Structured Storage"
Uniform Data Transfer
"Uniform Data Transfer"
Inside OLE 2, Chapter 10, Uniform Data Transfer and
Notifications