Announcing an all-new Self-Paced Training Kit designed to help maximize your performance on 70-502, the required exam for the new Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Windows Presentation Foundation.

This 2-in-1 kit includes the official Microsoft study guide, plus practice tests on CD to help assess your skills. It comes packed with the tools and features exam candidates want most including in-depth, self-paced training based on final exam content; rigorous, objective-by-objective review; exam tips from expert, exam-certified authors; and customizable testing options. It also provides real-world scenarios, case study examples, and troubleshooting labs for the skills and expertise you can apply to the job.

Focusing on the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), this official study guide covers creating, configuring, and deploying WPF applications; integrating Windows Forms controls; adding multimedia content; using triggers and animation; binding to data sources; and configuring security settings.

Work at your own pace through the lessons and lab exercises. Then assess yourself using 300+ practice questions on the CD, featuring multiple, customizable testing options. Choose timed or untimed testing mode, generate random tests, or focus on discrete objectives. You get detailed explanations for right and wrong answers including pointers back to the book for further study. You also get an evaluation version of Microsoft Visual Studio® 2008 software and an exam discount voucher making this kit an exceptional value and a great career investment.

Key Book Benefits:

In-depth coverage of exam objectives and sub-objectives plus instructive case studies and troubleshooting scenarios to enhance your performance on the job 300+ practice and review questions Test engine that enables customized testing, pre-assessment and post-assessment, and automated scoring and feedback Handy exam-mapping grid Evaluation version of Visual Studio 2008 15 percent exam-discount voucher from Microsoft (limited-time offer) Entire study guide in searchable eBook format

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 10 Ratings

Passed the exam - 2009-03-12
Reviewer Rating:
The live exam is painful (I used up the entire 3 hours). I used this book as my main study guide. I also went through the accompanying sample test several times. I would also recommend going through (at least skimming) the Pro WPF book (MacDonald) before actually taking the test. The Pro book covers some details not mentioned in this study guide. Note that the actual exam questions are much harder than the sample questions in this book and sample test engine.

Good for basics - 2008-10-31
Reviewer Rating:
Good book for understanding the basics of everything about XAML. Should have more on data templates since it is an important topic on this certification examn.

Good even if you are not doing the exam - 2009-08-28
Reviewer Rating:
WPF is a major overhaul of Windows forms. This book does a good job of providing a broad ouline of the subject. Obviously the subject is so vast that one book cannot cover everything. Content wise the book and the exam are geared towards business applications. The book does not address 3-D at all and many topics like animation and path are just about touched upon. But it does provide extensive references primarily to Microsoft web sites, although a few other references are cited as well. In "real life", I would recommend you complement this book with one that covers the specific topic of your need, in more depth. (Charles Petzold comes to mind) Some knowledge of C#/.NET is a prerequisite for this book.
Coming up with reasonable questions at the end of every chapter is such a difficult job that most authors don't do it. This is where the training kit books excel. The practice tests help to identify the gaps in your understanding. There are mistakes in the test that are addressed in its errata website which continues to be updated.
If you are taking the exam the book is well worth it given that it comes with a 15% discount on the exam feee.

The good book - 2009-03-09
Reviewer Rating:
For delivery of the exam(70-502) - an excellent book. By means of this books well to begin work with WPF, text of this book is written understandable and simply. In the future possible use and other literature (MSDN,APress,MSPress)

Really good guide for Exam 70-502 - 2009-02-08
Reviewer Rating:
I just passed the 70-502 certification exam, though this book was not the only source for my preparation but I found to be very helpful in getting my certification. In addition to reading this book and practicing the provided sample tests I also read Programming WPF by Chris Sells and took Transcender practice tests.

The thing I liked the most about this book is that I found it to be very readable, each chapter/lesson is small and comes with a nice lab to give you hands-on experience with the topic covered. I have read some of the other Self-Paced Training Kits and would rate this higher than the others. I read Programming WPF by Chris Sells before going through this book and found that this book to be very well-written, it succinctly explains concepts which were very hard to grasp from pages of text in the other book. My impression here might be a slightly incorrect because I was going through the topics second time and hence it might be more natural to understand things a little better.

The practice exams with the book are good but the real questions in the exam were much harder than these sample tests so I would recommend using some more practice tests unless you have real world experience in using WPF.

I have a good computer science background and have been working as a Software Consultant for years, since I haven't gotten a chance to use WPF on a real project my intention was to get the certification on my resume and demonstrate to the prospective client that I am capable of programming WPF. Real project experience cannot be replaced with a certification but now after going through preparation material and passing the exam I am very confident that I have enough understanding of the technology to use it on a real project.

I would highly recommend this book for anybody going for Exam 70-502 certification.

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