RTM’d today: MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-511): Windows Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4

We are pleased to let you all know that MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-511): Windows Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (ISBN 0735627420; page count 672) has released to the printer and will be available for purchase in February. Until then, here is the list of contents and a sample from the Introduction.

Contents at a Glance

Chapter 1 Building a User Interface
Chapter 2 Working with Events and Commands
Chapter 3 Adding and Managing Content
Chapter 4 Windows Forms and Windows Forms Controls
Chapter 5 Working with User-Defined Controls
Chapter 6 Working with Data Binding
Chapter 7 Configuring Data Binding
Chapter 8 Working with Data Grids and Validating User Input
Chapter 9 Enhancing Usability
Chapter 10 Advanced Topics
Chapter 11 Testing and Debugging WPF Applications
Chapter 12 Deployment

Introduction

This training kit is designed for developers who plan to take Microsoft Certified
Technology Specialist (MCTS) exam 70-511 as well as for developers who need to know
how to develop applications by using Microsoft .NET Framework 4. Before you begin using
this kit, you must have a working knowledge of Windows and Microsoft Visual Basic or
Microsoft Visual C#. The topics in this training kit cover what you need to know for the
exam as described on the Skills Measured tab for the exam, which is available at
https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-511&locale=en-us#tab2.

By using this training kit, you’ll learn how to do the following:
■ Choose the most appropriate control class
■ Implement screen layout using nested control hierarchies
■ Create and apply styles and theming
■ Manage reusable resources
■ Implement an animation in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
■ Manage routed events in WPF
■ Configure WPF commanding
■ Modify the visual interface at run time
■ Implement user-defined controls
■ Create and display graphics
■ Add multimedia content to an application in WPF
■ Create and apply control templates in WPF
■ Create data, event, and property triggers in WPF
■ Implement data binding
■ Implement value converters in WPF
■ Implement data validation
■ Implement and consume change notification interfaces
■ Prepare collections of data for display
■ Bind to hierarchical data
■ Implement data-bound controls
■ Create a data template in WPF
■ Integrate WinForms and WPF within an application
■ Implement asynchronous processes and threading
■ Incorporate globalization and localization features
■ Implement drag and drop operations across applications
■ Implement security features of an application
■ Manage user and application settings
■ Implement dependency properties
■ Implement a WPF test strategy
■ Debug XAML by using WPF Visualizer
■ Debug WPF issues by using PresentationTraceSources
■ Configure a ClickOnce deployment
■ Create and configure a Windows Installer project
■ Configure deployment security settings

Refer to the objective mapping page in the front of this book to see where in the book
each exam objective is covered.

Hardware Requirements

You should use a computer that is not your primary workstation to do the practice exercises
in this book because you will make changes to the operating system and application
configuration.

To use the companion CD, you need a computer running Microsoft Windows XP with
Service Pack 3 (SP3), Windows Vista with SP2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003 with SP2,
Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008 with SP2, or Windows Server 2008 R2.

The computer must meet the following minimum requirements:
■ Personal computer with at least a 1-GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
■ At least 1 GB of RAM (x86 systems) or 2 GB of RAM (x64 systems)
■ At least a 40-GB hard disk
■ DVD-ROM drive
■ Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor
■ Keyboard and Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device

For chapter 10 you will need a computer running Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or
Enterprise Edition.

Software Requirements

The computer used with the companion CD-ROM should also have the following software:
■ A Web browser such as Windows Internet Explorer
■ An application that can display PDF fi les such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be
downloaded at www.adobe.com/reader
■ Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional, a trial version of which can be downloaded
at https://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/professional
These requirements will support use of the companion CD-ROM.
Using the Companion Media
The companion media (CD) included with this training kit contains the following:
■ Practice tests You can reinforce your understanding of programming with Microsoft
.NET Framework 4 by using electronic practice tests that you customize to meet your
needs from the pool of lesson review questions in this book, or you can practice for
the 70-511 certifi cation exam by using tests created from a pool of 200 realistic exam
questions, which give you many practice exams to ensure that you are prepared.
■ An eBook An electronic version (eBook) of this book is included for when you do not
want to carry the printed book with you.
How to Install the Practice Tests

Lesson Review Options

When you start a lesson review, the Custom Mode dialog box appears so that you can configure your test.
You can click OK to accept the defaults, or you can customize the number of
questions you want, how the practice-test software works, the exam objectives to which you
want the questions to relate, and whether you want your lesson review to be timed. If you
are retaking a test, you can select whether you want to see all the questions again or only the
questions you missed or did not answer.

After you click OK, your lesson review starts.
■ Article I To take the test, answer the questions and use the Next and Previous buttons
to move from question to question.
■ Article II After you answer an individual question, if you want to see which answers
are correct—along with an explanation of each correct answer—click Explanation.
■ Article III If you prefer to wait until the end of the test to see how you did, answer all
the questions and then click Score Test. You will see a summary of the exam objectives
you chose and the percentage of questions you got right, both overall and per objective.
You can print a copy of your test, review your answers, or retake the test.
Practice Test Options
When you start a practice test, you choose whether to take the test in Certification Mode,
Study Mode, or Custom Mode.
■ Certification Mode Closely resembles the experience of taking a certification exam.
The test has a set number of questions. It is timed, and you cannot pause and restart
the timer.
■ Study Mode Creates an untimed test during which you can review the correct answers
and the explanations after you answer each question.
■ Custom Mode Gives you full control over the test options so that you can customize
them as you like. In all modes, the test user interface is basically the same but with
different options enabled or disabled, depending on the mode. The main options are
discussed in the previous section, “Lesson Review Options.”

When you review your answer to an individual practice test question, you see a
“References” section that lists where in the training kit you can find the information that
relates to that question and provides links to other sources of information. After you click Test
Results to score your entire practice test, you can click the Learning Plan tab to see a list of
references for every objective.