Study guide on 70-563

MCPD on Visual Studio 2008 exam 70-563 just have been published in February, 2009 .There are no Microsoft E-learning training ,no Microsoft Press books for us to prepare MCPD.net 3.5 on Visual Studio 2008 after passing 70-536 and 70-505 .Many of candidates for 70-563 are confused by this condition ,even don’t know how to prepare MCPD exams. Some candidates want to give up this exam. Because they think if there is no book, how can there be an exam, and they should wait to try for the MCPD on Visual Studio 2008 certifications ,or should go for MCPD on Visual Studio 2005/2.0 instead .

According to my passing in 70-563 with 944 high scores, I don’t think it is necessary to give up it .Firstly, there is not that much difference between the MCPD .net 2.0 and .net 3.5, especially between 2.0 and 3.5 release of the WinForms. You will find most of them are covered by 70-505 as well. What you should consider looking into is Linq and the changes of ADO.NET.

Although there are not any 70-563 MS Press books or other materials on Amazon, 70-563, we can study the 70-548 self study guide and MCPD Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-536, 70-526, 70-548): Microsoft® .NET Framework Windows® Developer Core Requirements (Bpg General) (Paperback) instead. What surprised me is a few months ago we could find books or training kit for 70-563 on amazon.com ,but now no specified ones. Maybe it is out of stock. You should asked for them or other materials related from those having passing MCPD .net 3.5 or 2.0, or you can search MCPD on .net 3.5 exam 70-563 resources.

Secondly, in the absence of books, start by hitting the online and MSDN documentation, which will be helpful for you. Besides, Measure up (www.measureup.com) would be the best source for sample exams. Classroom Training for Designing and Developing Windows Applications Using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (Exam 70-563) have been released, the corresponding classroom training will become available in coming months.
Of course, what you need to do is to keep checking Microsoft learning page for updates about the MS Press Self-Paced books and E-Training that will become available in the coming months. However ,according as my experiencing in Microsoft certification exams ,Ms press books or training kits are best materials for us to prepare the exams ,in other words ,most of objectives or main topic area are covered in ms press books ,which can help us more easily pass 70-563.
Mention in passing: if you have successfully completed the 70-548 and 70-505, it will be easy for you to get the MCPD .net 3.5.But what you should pay more attention to is the objectives on WCF.

Edit：
Some common questions related with 70-563:
What is the format of Visual studio 2008 exam 70-563?
Generally speaking, there are about 50 questions in the exam, and no simulations.
However, we could not know the exact question counts as it can change from person to person based on the question selection for any given exam.

2. How much study time is enough for the candidates for .net 3.5 exam 70-563?
Generally speaking ,you should spend 6 more or less weeks preparing this MCPD exam ,about 1-2 hours per day in the weekdays ,and 2-2.5 hours per day in the weekends .Near the exam time ,you should study for 3 or so hours per day .of course ,this is just for reference ,you can make your study plan for MCPD exam 70-563.

3. What is the duration in 70-563 exam ?
Generally speaking, about 2 hours.