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U.S. News and World Report ranked Software Developers as their #1 technology job for 2023 citing a median salary of $120,730 per year. Their rankings are based in part on a U.S. Labor Department report touting Software Developers as one of the fastest growing jobs of the decade citing the projected number of jobs to be 370,000. Information Security Analysts have a projected median salary of $102,000 and 56,500 jobs. Web developers median salary is projected to be $77,030 with 28,900 projected jobs. One other perk, a large portion of these jobs will be located in the Golden State.

Introduction

 A diagram depicting IoT, Mobile, PC, XBox, Surface Hub, and HoloLens devices targeted by the new .NET Core framework.
Figure 1: The new Microsoft .NET Core framework gives C# developers the ability to target multiple devices on multiple platforms.

The CIS C# Programming track provides scholars with an opportunity to learn skills and technologies which are literally on the bleeding edge of modern day application development.

CIS Course to MCSD Exam Matrix

MTA Exams 105A 115A 125A 116B 113C 123C
98-361: Software Development Fundamentals X   X  
98-375: HTML5 App Development Fundamentals X X X X    
MCSD Exams (Web Applications)            
70-480: Programming in HTML with JavaScript and CSS X X X X    
70-486: Developing ASP.NET MVC 4 Web App X X X X    
70-487: Developing Windows Azure and Web Services            
MCSD Exams (Windows Store Apps using HTML5)            
70-480: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 X X X X    
70-481: Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps Using HTML5 and JavaScript X X X X    
70-482: Advanced Windows Store App Development Using HTML5 and JavaScript X X X X    
MCSD Exams (Windows Store Apps using C#)            
70-483: Programming in C# X     X X X
70-484: Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps using C#         X X
70-485: Advanced Windows Store Apps using C#            
Table 1: The table above identifies the current Microsoft Technical Associate (MTA) and Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) Exams and which CIS courses you need to enroll in to prepare for a particular exam.

MCSD Exam Details

In order to become certified as a Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) you must pass one of the following exams:

98-361: Software Development Fundamentals

98-362: Windows Development Fundamentals

98-363: Web Development Fundamentals

98-375: HTML5 App Development Fundamentals

In order to become certified as a Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) you must pass three of the following exams all of the same track, Web Apps, Windows Store Apps-HTML5, or Windows Store Apps-C#:

98-480: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3. (Web Apps and Windows Store Apps-HTML5)

98-481: Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps using HTML5 and JavaScript (Windows Store Apps-HTML5)

98-482: Advanced Windows Store App Development using HTML5 and JavaScript (Windows Store Apps-HTML5)

98-483: Programming in C# (Windows Store Apps-C#)

98-484: Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps using C# (Windows Store Apps-C#)

98-485: Advanced Windows Store App Development using C# (Windows Store Apps-C#)

98-486: Developing ASP.NET 4.5 MVC Web Applications (Web Apps)

98-487: Developing Windows Azure and Web Services (Web Apps)

MTA Exams

98-361: Software Development Fundamentals
Skills Measured

This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below. The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam. The higher the percentage, the more questions you are likely to see on that content area on the exam.

Please note that the questions may test on, but will not be limited to, the topics described in the bulleted text.

Exam 98-363: Web Development Fundamentals
Skills Measured

This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below. The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam. The higher the percentage, the more questions you are likely to see on that content area on the exam.

Programming web applications (20-25%)

  • Customize the layout and appearance of a web page

    • CSS; tables; embedding images; page layout for navigation

  • Understand ASP.NET intrinsic objects

    • Request; Server; Application; Session; Response; HttpContext

  • Understand state information in web applications

    • Understand how state is stored based on application design and hardware; understand different types such as session state, view state, control state, and application state

  • Understand events and control page flow

    • Application and page life cycle events; page events; control events; application events; session events; cross-page posting; Response.Redirect; Server.Transfer; IsPostBack; setting AutoEventWireup

  • Understand controls

    • Understanding various types of controls, including user, server, web, and validation controls; know which is the appropriate type of control for a scenario

  • Understand configuration files

    • Understanding the usage of web.config and machine.config, and the settings that can be made

Preparation resources

Working with data and services (20-25%)

  • Read and write XML data

    • Understanding XML, XML validation

    • Does not include: Web services; XPath syntax; XmlDocument; XPathNavigator; XPathNodeIterator; XPathDocument; XmlReader; XmlWriter; XmlDataDocument; XmlNamespaceManager

  • Distinguish between DataSet and DataReader objects

    • The ability to choose the proper data object to use based on application requirements/design

  • Call a service from a web page

    • Creating a basic WCF service or web service so that it can be consumed; App_WebReferences; configuration

  • Understand DataSource controls

    • LinqDataSource: ObjectDataSource; XmlDataSource; SqlDataSource

  • Bind controls to data by using data binding syntax

    • Ensure that data is updated and displayed in data-aware controls

  • Manage data connections and databases

    • Database connections; connection objects; connection pools; transaction objects

Preparation resources

Troubleshooting and debugging web applications (20-25%)

  • Debug a web application

    • Use in conjunction with custom error pages to display appropriate error information to the appropriate user; implement tracing of a web application, Trace.axd, Trace=True on @Page directive

  • Handle web application errors

    • HTTP error codes

Preparation resources

Working with client-side scripting (15-20%)

  • Understand client-side scripting

    • Purpose of client-side scripting; various client-side scripting languages

  • Understand AJAX concepts

    • ASP.NET AJAX implementation; working with client-side libraries, EnablePartialRendering, Triggers, ChildrenAsTriggers, Scripts, Services, UpdateProgress, Timer, ScriptManagerProxy, extender controls

Preparation resources

Configuring and deploying web applications (15-20%)

  • Configure authentication and authorization

    • Forms authentication, Windows authentication; authorization; file authorization; impersonation

    • Does not include: Windows Cardspace authentication, Passport (Windows Live ID) authentication, Custom authentication

  • Configure projects, solutions, and reference assemblies

    • Local assemblies; shared assemblies (GAC); web application projects; solutions; configuration files; AppSettings

  • Publish web applications

    • Choosing the appropriate method to deploy an application based on existing or intended environment; updatable vs. not updateable; MSI deployment; Internet Information Server (IIS) installation and configuration

  • Understand application pools

    • Purpose of application pools; effect of application pools on web applications

    • Does not include: Configuring or assigning application pools

Preparation resources

MCSD Exams

70-480: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3
Skills Measured

This exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below. The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam. The higher the percentage, the more questions you are likely to see on that content area on the exam.

Please note that the questions may test on, but will not be limited to, the topics described in the bulleted text.

Use CSS3 in applications (25%)

  • Style HTML text properties

    • Apply styles to text appearance (color, bold, italics); apply styles to text font (WOFF and @font-face, size); apply styles to text alignment, spacing, and indentation; apply styles to text hyphenation; apply styles for a text drop shadow

  • Style HTML box properties

    • Apply styles to alter appearance attributes (size, border and rounding border corners, outline, padding, margin); apply styles to alter graphic effects (transparency, opacity, background image, gradients, shadow, clipping); apply styles to establish and change an element’s position (static, relative, absolute, fixed)

  • Create a flexible content layout

    • Implement a layout using a flexible box model; implement a layout using multi-column; implement a layout using position floating and exclusions; implement a layout using grid alignment; implement a layout using regions, grouping, and nesting

  • Create an animated and adaptive UI

    • Animate objects by applying CSS transitions; apply 3-D and 2-D transformations; adjust UI based on media queries (device adaptations for output formats, displays, and representations); hide or disable controls

  • Find elements by using CSS selectors and jQuery

    • Choose the correct selector to reference an element; define element, style, and attribute selectors; find elements by using pseudo-elements and pseudo-classes (for example, :before, :first-line, :first-letter, :target, :lang, :checked, :first-child)

  • Structure a CSS file by using CSS selectors

    • Reference elements correctly; implement inheritance; override inheritance by using !important; style an element based on pseudo-elements and pseudo-classes (for example, :before, :first-line, :first-letter, :target, :lang, :checked, :first-child)

Preparation resources