I've just completed chapter 1, and without going any futher, I was already kicking myself for purchasing this book, it costs a whopping RM142.50 in Malaysia where a McDonalds large value meal goes for RM9.00!!! The chapter was on Consuming and Manipulating Datasets, and the only codes provided was on inserting, deleting and updating data either via SQL or stored procedures. Also some bits on how to drag and drop your schema and DataRelations.
Considering that I've already passed 70-305 ASP.NET, the coverage on datasets are seriously and ridiculously WEAK!. And with that, I can pretty much pass judgement across the whole book without reading any further. Here's a sample question (all other questions are of the same level of 'easiness'):
You are using a SQL Insert statement to insert records in a table named Products. The Products table has the following structure:
ProductID - identity, no default value, not null
ProductName - varchar(50), no default, not null
UnitPrice - money, default value 10.00, can be null
Color - varchar(10) no default value, can be null.
Which column must u explicitly specify in the INSERT statement?
(Urgh... double, quadruple duuuhhhhhss... if you're practicing on questions like these, you'd fail the test even if you've read the book for the 10th time!)
I've had very bad experiences with QUE books, and this book rekindled memories that I had with the Special Edition series a long time ago. If you want a serious prep book, pick up a Sybex. It may cost more, but its more worth it in terms of depth.
Take it from someone who has taken and PASSED the ASP.NET tests. What needs to be in a chapter that deals with ADO.NET are Coding and fundamentals for:
1) How to Continue if there are errors in inserting/updating records with datasets.
2) How to retrieve those errors
3) How to merge one dataset with another and its many details like preserving schema.
4) What's the difference between a DataRelation and a ForeignkeyContraints in coding and its implications.
5) How to handle DataColumnMapping and DataTableMapping
6) Why are there different connection types like SQLConnection and OLEDBConnection.
The 6 items above are the very LEAST that you should know in order to ace both the 70-305 and 70-310 paper when it comes to ADO.NET
Save your money. Get a better book.
Let me first say, I was using the Transcender tests to help prepare for this exam and they where totally irrelevant. So be careful. The tests have always been useful in the past, but NOT for this exam. I failed my first attempt.I liked this book a lot from the moment I started it. Lots of hands-on examples. In fact, most of the book is example based. I went through and duplicated each one on my own PC, which I think is the way to go, rather than just reading it.
I didn't see anything out there that resembles the actual exam questions, but this book gave me the necessary foundation of knowledge to work through the questions. I passed the exam on my second attempt.
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