Congratulations John Durbin!!! 1

[jonscott8]

Congratulations John on becoming a MCP in Visual Foxpro!

Did you find the test difficult? How many attempts did it take before you got a passing score? Did you take 155 or 156?

What areas did the test cover? Care to enlighten us on any of the questions you remember?

Congrats Again. [sig]<p>Jon Hawkins<br><a href=mailto: jonscott8@yahoo.com> jonscott8@yahoo.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>Focus on the solution....Not the problem.[/sig]

 

[august]

Congrats! John!

August [sig][/sig]

 

[Wendz]

Congratulations John! Keep on!

Wendz [sig][/sig]

 

[Marat]

Congratulations John!

Marat
tolgambaev@hotmail.com [sig][/sig]

 

[dzdncnfsd]

Congratulations, John!!
Gladys [sig]<p>Gladys Clemmer<br><a href=mailto:gladys.clemmer@fifsg.com>gladys.clemmer@fifsg.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br> [/sig]

 

[ChrisRChamberlain]

I Congratulations John!

Chris [sig][/sig]

 

[TomasDill]

Congrats, John! [sig]<p>Vlad Grynchyshyn<br><a href=mailto:vgryn@softserve.lviv.ua>vgryn@softserve.lviv.ua</a><br>[/sig]

 

[JDurbin]

Holy cow! That's what I love about the Fox community. I am completely surprised here.
The test I took was the desktop 156. I dont know what you can and cannot say about the test but read the questions and answer what you think is right. I guess my reading comprehension slipped from so long. It took me 2 times
Been so long since I took a test but you do have enough time. I was trying to figure out what they wanted the first time so the second time I just relaxed more and answered what I thought was right. It made a huge improvement though score doesnt matter. Here is a link to what it covers if you dont have it.

http://www.microsoft.com/trainingan...ngAndServices/content/exams/70-156.txt#SKILLS

I guess Distributed is next

There was one question with no answer heh. I am going to report it. It asked for fastest way to get back a result set for a particular day, listed the tables and fields but failed to include a date field in any table Even with a date field I hate to see a calculated field included when its not part of any data warehouse dont you agree? Bad question. It's 45 questions and you have 2 hours I think it was. Hope to see us all with 156 and 155 certs! And maybe you'll get compensated by your workplace for the registration fees

Thanks again I appreciate the good gestures [sig]<p>John Durbin<br><a href=mailto: john@johndurbin.com> john@johndurbin.com</a><br><a href=

http://www.johndurbin.com>

</a><br>MCP Visual FoxPro<br>
<br>
ICQ #9466492<br>
ICQ VFP ActiveList #73897253[/sig]

 

[foxdev]

Congrats, John. Don't feel bad about the 2x; it took me that many on -029 (SQL Server implementation), and even then it was pretty close.

I'm planning on doing -155 (Distributed) as well; that, plus the generic &quot;user requirements&quot; test and I'll be MCSD.

Perhaps we should get a study group going. I had thought about suggesting a special forum for study groups on Tek-Tips, but then thought better not; too much of a chance of outright brain-dumping, and I don't want to get Tecumseh in trouble. [sig]<p>Robert Bradley<br><a href=mailto: > </a><br><a href=

http://www.foxdev.com/>FoxDev

- Visual FoxPro Development</a><br> [/sig]

 

[JDurbin]

>Perhaps we should get a study group going. I had thought about suggesting a special forum for study groups on Tek-Tips, but then thought better not; too much of a chance of outright brain-dumping, and I don't want to get Tecumseh in trouble.

There is a study group I hear going on over at the Wiki. I'll check it out. I dun't knew what you mean by 'brain-dumping' or 'Tecumseh.' Since you like to look things up what is test 100? Seems a lot of folks at UT took in in route to MCSD. And, its only 3 tests right? So VFP desktop, distributed and one other like SQL or this 100 thing gets it right? Have a good weekend [sig]<p>John Durbin<br><a href=mailto: john@johndurbin.com> john@johndurbin.com</a><br><a href=

http://www.johndurbin.com>

</a><br>MCP Visual FoxPro<br>
<br>
ICQ #9466492<br>
ICQ VFP ActiveList #73897253[/sig]

 

[jonscott8]

it took me that many on -029 (SQL Server implementation)

Congrats Robert. I've heard 029 is a PITA and generally takes at least 2 attempts to pass.

we should get a study group going. I had thought about suggesting a special forum for study groups on Tek-Tips

They did a study group last november and december at fox.wikis.com
I think the study group forum idea is, at minimum, worthy of a suggestion in the round table. See what other members think.

what is test 100?

IIRC, 100 is Analyzing User Requirements and Proposing Solutions. Or something along those lines. It's the one test you have to take no matter if you go VB, VFP, or VC++ MCSD route.

And, its only 3 tests right

Actually, the old track MCSD consisted of only 3 exams. However, the new track MCSD consists of the Distributed, Desktop, User Requirements, and one elective. 4 tests in all.

John,
what all resources did you use to prepare for 156? [sig]<p>Jon Hawkins<br><a href=mailto: jonscott8@yahoo.com> jonscott8@yahoo.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>Focus on the solution....Not the problem.[/sig]

 

[TomasDill]

Hi!

They did a study group last november and december at fox.wikis.com
I think the study group forum idea is, at minimum, worthy of a suggestion in the round table. See what other members think.

I really want to pass these exams. So any ideas about study groups are quite important for me. What do you think about moving this into another thread?


They did a study group last november and december at fox.wikis.com
From Wikis chat and forums I know that they have idea to make another study group soon. However, because DEVCON and other events, I do not know anything new about that now. Anyone can tell something abou that or point where I can find more information? [sig]<p>Vlad Grynchyshyn<br><a href=mailto:vgryn@softserve.lviv.ua>vgryn@softserve.lviv.ua</a><br>[/sig]

 

[foxdev]

The requirements for an MCSD are here:

http://www.microsoft.com/trainingan...l=requirements&SubSite=cert/mcsd&AnnMenu=mcsd

Test 100, as Jon mentioned, is the generic Analyzing Solutions..etc. It is supposed to be a fairly involved exam, with a lot of reading and analysis.

By way of background for those unfamiliar with the Microsoft certifications:

Take pretty much any exam and pass, and you'll achieve the rank of MCP-Microsoft Certified Professional.

MCSE-MC Systems Engineer - is oriented towards operating system and network installation and support.

MCSD-MC Solutions Developer - is oriented towards software developers (most of us, I'd imagine).

If I remember the stats from a recent MCP magazine correctly, there are about 10x more MCSEs than MCSDs. In a conversation with a regional headhunter recently, he said that there are plenty of MCSEs, but very few MCSDs. In fact, he's only knowingly interviewed one! He believes an MCSD would be very much in demand, as there are comparatively few of them. [sig]<p>Robert Bradley<br><a href=mailto: > </a><br><a href=

http://www.foxdev.com/>FoxDev

- Visual FoxPro Development</a><br> [/sig]

 

[JDurbin]

I'm all for any study group here on Tek. Actually, I'd really like to see more use of video like Netmeeting, etc but however we do it is cool with me. (BTW, mplayer.com has a cool setting where one moderator can choose one person with a cam to be on it, one person can talk at a time and course everyone can chat via keyboard)

I just heard Cindy Winegarden and Evan Delay are working on a VFP MCP study book so that will be a welcomed addition. Don't know if it covers just desktop or distributed too.

AFA studying for the test I've been reading just about everything. I have to say, though his stuff is almost totally distributed, I have learned much from reading Rick Strahl's articles. This guy can acutally communicate on a pretty decent level (ie: not too 'geeky') and is top notch if not numero uno in VFP programming.

Everyone in favor of Robert starting a study group here say &quot;Aye&quot; [sig]<p>John Durbin<br><a href=mailto: john@johndurbin.com> john@johndurbin.com</a><br><a href=

http://www.johndurbin.com>

</a><br>MCP Visual FoxPro<br>
<br>
ICQ #9466492<br>
ICQ VFP ActiveList #73897253[/sig]

 

[foxdev]

Hey, now, I'm here to learn for this test.

As far as study materials for the Distributed test, thus far I only have two:

[tab]

http://www.mcpmag.com/members/00apr/oe2main.asp

(MCP Magazine article on the test)

[tab]

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/techart/mtsvfp.htm

(MTS for VFP developers article)

John, I'd be much obliged if you could share any other publicly-available links for study aids for the Distributed exam.
[sig]<p>Robert Bradley<br><a href=mailto: > </a><br><a href=

http://www.foxdev.com/>FoxDev

- Visual FoxPro Development</a><br> [/sig]

 

[JDurbin]

Well gimmie a couple days and I'll work on getting as much together as I can.
I'm starting a new thread called VFP MCP Prep and get this thread off my name in the header and on to the subject. Final thanks again to everyone for their congrats. [sig]<p>John Durbin<br><a href=mailto: john@johndurbin.com> john@johndurbin.com</a><br><a href=

http://www.johndurbin.com>

</a><br>MCP Visual FoxPro<br>
<br>
ICQ #9466492<br>
ICQ VFP ActiveList #73897253[/sig]