As foreshadowed late last year, there are now two levels of developer certification – the MCSD for Microsoft .NET and the new MCAD (Microsoft Certified Application Developer), also for .NET. The new MCSD consists of five exams (it used to be four), and the MCAD has three exams -- a subset of those offered for the MCSD. Microsoft suggests that the MCSD is for lead developers who work on enterprise solutions, whereas the MCAD is aimed developers who work on department-level solutions. The additional core exam for MCSDs focuses on developing XML Web services with either Visual Basic .NET or Visual C# .NET. The MCAD doesn't have the MCSD requirement for a solution architecture exam, and has only one of the Web application development or Windows application development exams, the XML web services exam and an elective.

Most of the exams for these titles will beta in April and go live in June. However, the new 70-300 (Analyzing Requirements and Defining .NET Solution Architectures), a core exam for MCSD .NET, isn't expected until early next year. I can appreciate the need to get this new 70-300 exam designed correctly, but I'm a little surprised to hear it will take Microsoft nearly another year to have this ready -- in IT terms, that's a long time away.

The new .NET framework, together with the new C# language and/or Visual Basic .NET, represents a huge learning curve for existing developers who were already competent with Visual C++ and/or Visual Basic -- not unlike the gap the networking community faced earlier with Windows 2000 and the MCSE program. Therefore, I expect that many existing MCSDs have much to learn to master these new technologies. At the same time, I'm perplexed that there's no upgrade path for existing MCSDs; although their current MCSD won't expire, they'll need to take all five exams in order to achieve the new version of the title. Even most of the old MCSD electives are no longer valid. Why didn't Microsoft follow the same policy used with the MCSE and allowed expired electives to be used as part of the current certifications? Surely not everything that MCSDs have known about programming on the Windows platform is now obsolete! At the very least, Microsoft could give current MCSDs a couple of free exam vouchers to be applied to the new exams. Given how serious Microsoft is about the all-pervasive nature of .NET -- with TV adverts and all -- it's good business to have more expert .NET evangelists who can spread the word.

The new MCSD for .NET program presents an issue for those currently considering or working the MCSD. Given that there is no upgrade path for the "old" MCSD to the new, it's hard to make a case for continuing on with the old program. Even so, the exams won't be live until June, meaning there probably won't be much in the way of exam resources until 4th quarter 2002. Because there is so much to learn, getting deep into it now is a great idea. Of course, there's nothing saying you need to use self-study resources anyway to prepare for exams: In the past, I've used product knowledge combined with the online manuals and, of course, the objectives to prepare for exams. Although this is a longer process than following a self-study book, I've found it to be an excellent way to learn lots about the topic AND pass the exams.

If you plan to get this certification, I recommend you get moving ASAP. Sure, everyone who develops on Microsoft platforms will need to get a grasp of this material eventually, but by becoming an early adopter and, hopefully, an expert with these technologies, you could use that knowledge to really further your career. The bottom line? The sooner you master working with Visual Studio .NET, the better.

What you do think about these new certifications? Are you planning to complete one of them? Let me know by posting your comments below.