Visual Studio 2012 and Windows 8 are already here so it was more than obvious that another tier of developer certifications will appear soon. But if you’ve assumed (like I did) that MSFT is just going to add exams as a parallel path of equivalents to the old MCTS / MCPD ones - you’re wrong.
MSFT seems to be very focused on the idea of Windows Store and mobile-alike way of distributing software. There are two new paths certification added - both in MCSD (yes!) path (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer). But don’t worry, you can upgrade your MCPD to MCSD, so you don’t have to start from scratch. Ok, details time… The two paths I’ve mentioned are:
- "MCSD: Web Applications"
- "MCSD: Windows Store Apps …" (with two subpaths: "… Using HTML 5" & "… Using C#")
Details for Web Apps path can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-mcsd-web-applications.aspx
Briefly: to get the certification by starting from scratch you need just 3 exams (interesting things - Microsoft is forcing devs to learn Azure by making 487 exam obligatory in web path!):
- 480 (HTML5 + CSS3 + JavaScript)
- 486 (ASP.NET 4.5 MVC)
- 487 (Azure & Web Services)
But if you have MCPD Web Developer 4 (like I do), it’s only 2 exams:
- 480 (HTML5 + CSS3 + JavaScript)
- 492 (dedicated upgrade exam for Web Dev 4)
Details for Windows Store Apps path can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mcsd-windows-store-apps.aspx
Briefly: to get the certification by starting from scratch you need 3 exams for each subpath:
HTML5 subpath:
- 480 (HTML5 + CSS3 + JavaScript)
- 481 (Windows Store Apps with HTML5 + JavaScript)
- 482 (Advanced Windows Store Apps with HTML5 + JavaScript)
C# subpath:
- 483 (Programming in C#)
- 484 (Windows Store Apps with C#)
- 485 (Advanced Windows Store Apps with C#)
But if you already have MCPD Windows Developer 4 (like I do), it’s only 2 exams each subpath:
HTML5 subpath:
- 480 (HTML5 + CSS3 + JavaScript)
- 490 (dedicated upgrade exam for Win Dev 4)
C# subpath:
- 483 (Programming in C#)
- 491 (dedicated upgrade exam for Win Dev 4)
To summarize:
If you want to get the full pool starting from scratch, you’ll need to pass 8 exams (480 appears in two paths).
If you have full MCPD path for .NET 4, you need to pass 5 exams (same remark as above).
Seems like a busy year ahead :)