That’s good news if you are a software developer as the demand is likely to continue exceeding the supply for many years. If you are on the market for a new job, your chances of finding another job are pretty good.

That’s also good news if you are an organization who offers software development services to customers. The trend showing that organizations are not staffing up to their full need and prefer to hire external temporary help (consultants) to complete their projects.

So all is well in this perfect world, right?

Well, it depends. If your goal is simply to get “a job” things are OK for you – send your resume to an organization that is recruiting and if you successfully go through the various steps of the recruiting process, you’re in. Congratulations! If at first you don’t succeed, try again a few more times and chances are you will get into one of the hiring organization.

If you are looking for interesting projects or projects inline with your personal goals and aspirations things might be more complicated. How do you ensure you are the one selected for that special project?

If you haven’t realized it yet, software developers are commodities. There simply isn’t much differentiation between software developers. I don’t mean to be disrespectful and as such, I won’t attempt to compare software developers to other commodities but the fact remains that there are very few ways to distinguish software developers.

In marketing, product differentiation is the process of distinguishing a product or offering from others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market. This involves differentiating it from competitors’ products as well as a firm’s own product offerings – Wikipedia.

The question that comes to mind is “What are you doing to stand out of the crowd?” and “What are your differentiating factors?”.

One differentiating factor that is slowly appearing in job descriptions is the requirement for “Agile software developers”. Although a step in the right direction, this is likely to mean very little in the near future as the definition of an agile software developer still needs to be agreed upon.

If you are part of an organization that offers software development services, what are your differentiating factors? Ours is simple, we offer immersion and highly performing software development teams that are ready to make a substantial impact from day 1.

What are your differentiating factors?

Nikesh’s Google journey started in 2004 and since then he has held several positions with the company. Currently, Nikesh oversees all revenue and customer operations, as well as marketing and partnerships of Google. Recently, Nikesh Google’s global direct sales operations as well. He is responsible for developing and managing the company’s operations in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets. Prior to joining Google, Nikesh was the Chief Marketing Officer and a member of the management board at T-Mobile. He also worked with Deutsche Telekom, Putnam Investments and Fidelity Investments in Boston.

Favourite Bike accessories in India.

Nikesh’s Google journey started in 2004 and since then he has held several positions with the company. Currently, Nikesh oversees all revenue and customer operations, as well as marketing and partnerships of Google. Recently, Nikesh Google’s global direct sales operations as well. He is responsible for developing and managing the company’s operations in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets. Prior to joining Google, Nikesh was the Chief Marketing Officer and a member of the management board at T-Mobile. He also worked with Deutsche Telekom, Putnam Investments and Fidelity Investments in Boston.

Favourite Bike accessories in India.

EmmeGirls promotional modeling (Emme Girls, Model Buzz)

The EmmeGirls Promotional Models will be performing in Chi-Town this March 7th – 10th for DrupalCon 2011.  Staged at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Tower this March 7th – 10th the show features the most influential people and brightest minds within the Drupal community and beyond.  Drupal is an open source, content management system (CMS), web design and web building platform that is used worldwide.  The show is designed for software developers, software engineers, front-end developers, web designers, CEO’s, CTO’s and CIO’s.  The DrupalCon Chicago will host dozens of curated sessions and panels from the most influential people within Drupal and beyond.  This is the place to be to for people who use, develop, design, and support the Drupal platform to meet and mingle with the brightest minds in the industry.  Take a couple of extra days, bring the family or at least  your golf clubs because ChiTown is always a good time.

Make sure you have the professional trade show models on hand to make the most out of your time in Chicago.  EmmeGirls staffs elite CEO level Spokesmodels and hot promotional models to draw attention to your booth, promote your after parties, golf outings and more.  The Modeling Agency is led by CEO Emme Porter.  She is former Miss Massachusetts, Bella Vita REAL Reality TV Star and a three time member of the Washington Capitals in-game entertainment squad called the Red Rockers.  Trust the hottest marketing agency to know the best male and female talent.  Call today 202 436 5114 and visit our EmmeGirls Promotional Models website.

Model Buzz ModelBuzz

oogle and other players in the information technology (IT) industry say Microsoft is guilty of “industrial espionage” in the wake of catching the software giant displaying results originating from Google itself on the Bing search engine’s results page (which is operated by Microsoft).  The charge itself is surprising; but perhaps almost as surprising is that a company with the name-brand recognition, market share and raw success of Google would float charges as ridiculous as “espionage” is in this case – in public.

It’s all a product of an ongoing and, really, tired theme in the IT sector: techno-bigotry.  It’s existed for years between the two mainstream, competing platforms for Internet-based application delivery: on one side you have Microsoft Corporation which used to be criticized (rightfully) for offering a heavily proprietary solution architecture; and on the other, what I term “the Java alliance” – which is really an architecture that at key points conforms with a loose agreement on industry standards and technologies that are based upon “open-source” development principles (though there are many elements which can be proprietary in nature).

There are those who’d dismiss the Google announcement concerning the alleged Bing results replication as merely the product of the fiercely competitive web search sub-industry – that it’s all about optics and trying to make Google appear more innovative than Microsoft (yet again).  But this is a hugely simplistic view of Google’s real motives.  After all, the information being contested in this complaint is either “out there” – visible to the public; or at least any member of the public equipped with an application capable of reading the web protocol "HTTP” (a web browser), or voluntarily shared with Microsoft by individual users (i.e. data shared though the Bing toolbar or other available “clickstream” data, acquired by legitimate means.  Normally when one conducts espionage, one is surreptitiously (and unlawfully) getting information which has value both as intellectual property and as information that offers competitive advantage (which, in the IT sector would typically be technology that nobody else has).  Typically, such technology is the product of innovation by the company holding it.  So did Microsoft – which admits it did present results in a fashion very similar to Google – commit espionage or, as one analyst claimed, “cheat” doing what it did?  The answer is yes, certainly; if your definition of espionage and cheating includes using information that was broadcast without encryptions or other protections of any kind into the public domain.

Technology bigotry is so ingrained in the IT industry’s culture; there are very real parallels with college sports, complete with slogans, mascots and meaningless, ad hominem arguments as to which team is better.

My definition of both espionage and cheating differs from that conclusion (as does virtually every published lexical reference I could find online).

Beyond all of this, were Microsoft really guilty of espionage, Google would not be making claims so publicly about their “sting”, as they call it.  Microsoft would be dragged up on criminal charges and Google would be very tight-lipped about what claims it was making in public, notwithstanding the usual statement in such circumstances, “We cannot comment because the matter is before the courts.”  (Particularly in the litigation-prone United States of America.)  So why is Google trying its would-be espionage case in the court of public opinion? In fact, there are many reasons.  For one thing, Google wants to highlight its position as the leader of search technology, because Bing (Microsoft’s search product) has been gaining ground.  And, lets face it, search is Google’s “crown jewels” – just as Microsoft Office products are its “crown jewels” (alongside the Windows operating system).  Google will do anything and everything (within the scope of lawful conduct) to defend its web search property.  In charging Microsoft with “cheating” like this, particularly to the largely non-technical advertising and marketing business audience, Google is attempting to make Microsoft out to be a company that just can’t figure out how to beat Google by innovating on its own.  The trouble is, everyone already recognizes Google as the undisputed leader of web search.  So is there something else Google gains in all this?  You bet!  There’s another audience of note: software developers (like me!).

Web developers and software developers are often overlooked as a relevant crowd in such stories by the mainstream media; but don’t think for a second both Google and Microsoft  don’t spend a lot of time, effort and cold, hard cash wooing developers to use their products.  Why?  Because when software-based solutions are created, the size of the pool of resources available to maintain and upgrade the resulting products are a key consideration for IT managers – which translates into determining how much those solutions end up costing in the end.  In general, the more developers there are whose expertise gravitate to one particular toolset, the less costly that toolset is.  And at the moment, Microsoft is winning the battle for the hearts and minds of software developers (mostly due to the de facto capitulation of Java through IBM’s acquisition of it, via the Sun Microsystems transaction, back in 2009).  In this developer’s opinion, Java has lost much of its momentum throughout the industry as a direct result of IBM taking control of the technology.  And software professionals are aligning their careers accordingly.  But Java’s legacy can’t be underestimated – it is still to be found in many spaces and the Java language will remain a relevant, sought-after skill for several years into the future at least.  And Google can be thanked for this, in part.  As a third-party company, Google is at liberty to offer integration to any partners it prefers…and it is obvious that while it is possible to integrate with many Google service offerings with Microsoft technology – it is not rolling out the red carpet to Microsoft’s .NET platform, nor the Windows operating system by any means.  Indeed there are service offerings which are exclusively available only to the Linux operating system, which is one of the top three competitors to Microsoft Windows.

From a business perspective, this lukewarm reception to Microsoft integration makes some sense, since increasingly Google and Microsoft contest the same service paradigms.  Search is only one example.  Google Docs is a direct competitor to Microsoft Office, Google Desktop is a direct assault on both Microsoft Live Essentials and Microsoft Search technologies.  If Google is to gain mind-share amongst the developer population and someday be able to threaten Microsoft’s dominance in the server room (which is its ultimate goal, I believe, since that’s where the big money is), it really needs to do what it can to discourage adoption of the .NET Framework.

So expect more spectacles of one sort or another with this core theme exhibited as part of a long-term strategy to beat Microsoft.  And I say long-term in the full sense of the word.  Not only is Google not yet directly challenging Microsoft in the operating systems space (which it needs to do in order to get through the server room doorway), but Microsoft has played this game before…and always won.  It beat Java with .NET.  It beat Netscape with IE.  It even beat Sony and its PlayStation with the XBox.  But Microsoft’s never taken on a company quite like Google before…a company as innovative and fast-paced as Google.  Google won an early battle stifling Microsoft’s foray into online services with its Microsoft Live web properties; but Microsoft countered by making a huge consent-based investment in Facebook and continues to increase that investment while partnering more and more closely with the near-monopoly it holds on social networking.  The game is too close to call at this point.

And expect the techno-bigotry to continue….with all is parallels to college sports; slogans, cheers, mascots and meaningless ad hominem arguments as to which team is better.

Current job situation is also one of the area software developers can focus on. Every organization would have some exposure to the new technology and would surely want to update the employees. Software developers should choose such a place, which allows sufficient exposure to new technology and does not resist changing.

Software developers can also keep themselves updated with new technology and emerging programming languages by utilizing the free time available to them. One should focus on learning new technique in spite of making their learning’s stale.

Market is rapidly changing with much advanced technology and new programming languages and tools for software development are coming in. in order to stay connected to the technological environment software developers need to adopt many ways, with which they can shape a brighter future.

When I shared these statistics with some of our clients, they all asked the same question: “Why?”

Between 2008 and 2010,  many people took jobs that didn’t match their career goals with significant salary reductions. People were thankful just to be working and getting a paycheck given the tumultuous job market. This sentiment lasted through 2009 and most of 2010. In mid-2010, we started to see more confidence in the job market. Corporate earnings started to return due to drastic cuts in operating expenses and slightly improved economics. Even with better corporate earnings, there were still signs of uncertainty with the economy both on a national and global stage.

Some of those uncertainties still exist in early 2011 but the corporate messages are starting to improve. Many companies have already announced massive hiring strategies for 2011. These messages build confidence in individuals increasing their willingness to take a risk and search for a new position.

So, what does this mean for companies? For one, they need to evaluate their workforce. They also must identify the people who are underutilized  in their current position and can offer more to the company. They need to understand the cost of having to hire for positions and train new staff.

In the technology workforce, we have seen a tremendous uptick in demands for Data Warehouse experts, Business Analysts, Software Developers and Testing resources. Companies must understand that their staff in those positions could be at risk if a better opportunity comes along. We have also seen for the first time in 24 months, companies re-evaluating their compensation packages to make sure they are competitive and able to attract new hires. This is a very positive sign for the technology workforce.

Don’t wait until it is too late and you start losing great resources. Quickly evaluate your key positions and try to determine which employees are at risk of leaving. Do salary surveys to better understand how your compensation package stacks up locally and within your industry. Talk to your employees to get a better sense of how they are feeling and whether or not they enjoy their job. Many companies took advantage of the high unemployment rate to hire people at lower salaries. If you did that, recognize it, and try to make adjustments to stay competitive with similar companies.

Andy Frank
COO, Founder
UDig

FirstCMS – Oracle Query Analyser -

FirstCMS Online Ordering – Oracle Query Analyser – Oracle Query is a professional development tool aimed at software developers exposed to the data services tier of n-tier software applications.

FirstCMS – SmartMenus -

FirstCMS Online Ordering – SmartMenus – SmartMenus is aimed at ICT professionals who need to open files with many different applications, quicly and easily depending on the situation.

Andrian Marcus, associate professor of computer science in WSU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is collaborating with Tim Menzies, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering in the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at WVU, in hopes to ease the distractions and stress of information overload faced by programmers during software development.

Marcus and Menzies recently received a $500,000 National Science Foundation award — with $256,000 directed to WSU — for their project “Better Comprehension of Software Engineering Data,” which aims to make software developers work more efficiently.

“Software systems today are larger and more complex,” Marcus said. “They are built over many years by hundreds of developers. The amount of data in software systems that a developer has to deal with is staggering. We aim to produce tools and techniques that will allow software developers and managers to easily customize data mining techniques to help software development work.”

Already widely used by scientists in many fields, data mining techniques are in need of adaptation to work with software data.

“Data mining methods first blew up in the early 1990s with successes such as Google,” Marcus said. “For the mainstream software developer, however, the methods are difficult to understand. We will put the task of prioritizing and processing information into simpler, easily utilized terms.”

Marcus and Menzies are looking at ways to customize search results, so that individuals can more precisely set the boundaries of the information they want and receive the most pertinent results. The researchers plan to test the results of their efforts among students and industrial partners.

“Our goal is to make a calmer, more streamlined flow of incoming information, with unneeded information filtered out and important information emphasized,” Marcus said. “In doing this, we hope people encounter less unneeded information, will be more focused and reap the greatest benefits out of the technologies that have become ubiquitous in our daily lives.”

More at www.research.wayne.edu.

The technology has enabled many new software developers to enter into the field of software development without having years of experience. The basic skills of having cursory abilities of software development can be sufficient for those who want to enter the field.

However, the toughest task for software developers today is to keep themselves updated with the technology that flashes into the market and gets flee quickly. Software developers who cannot cope up lose their market clutch and their growth and learning curve slopes downward. There is no static stage in software development industry; software developers always need to be adaptive to constantly changing technology to win the race. Software development market always provides new technique or a new programming language to learn to the software developers in order to stay updated.

In order to stay connected with the technological change the software developers need to adopt some ways to be present in the market. Let us have a look at some of them:

• One thing the software developers can do to be updated is to take help from the online tutorials and tools. There are many software development tools are available free or for trial and the providers give thorough descriptions of the conception and procedure to learn them.
• Current job situation is also one of the area software developers can focus on. Every organization would have some exposure to the new technology and would surely want to update the employees. Software developers should choose such a place, which allows sufficient exposure to new technology and does not resist changing.
• Software developers can also keep themselves updated with new technology and emerging programming languages by utilizing the free time available to them. One should focus on learning new technique in spite of making their learning’s stale.
• The software developers should be able to manage their own career and must have interest to move ahead with rapidly changing market technological needs. They need to focus on the strengths they have and make themselves capable of meeting the industry demands.

Software development industry demands lot of technological exposure, less experience but fresh talent. The software developers need not to have years of experience to survive or get projects, they just need to have clever knowledge of changing techniques and languages. More completion will bring lower hour rates. Being a good software developer does not only sells an idea a software developer need to know how when and where to publicize the idea in order to get maximum attention and buyers. A potential software developer will find his way in this ever-changing era of technology with the help of above mentioned tools and ideas.

A while ago, EA Canada had a small competitor across the street that was going through shitty times (long hours, layoffs etc.). So they put up this billboard…

It’s in a “code” that is easy to translate if you know what is going on, but is impossible to understand otherwise. Any “real” programmer knows that the numbers are ASCII character codes. And a “real” programmer has those codes (or most of them anyway) memorized. If not memorized, the translation process is either to type in the code and run it, or to use an ASCII table like this:

ASCII table

If you look up the first character, 78, in the ASCII table, it translates to “N”. Do the same for the other characters to see the message. Perhaps only 0.5% of the population would know to do that.

Right now there are other “secret codes” floating around in public like this. It is possible to consider QR codes to be somewhat secret at the moment:

How QR Codes work -and- how to make your own QR code

To decode a QR code you need a Smart Phone, QR code software and the knowledge to use it. Perhaps only 5% of the population can do it? 10%?

What other codes are there floating around in public like this? Wal-mart has codes used by employees:

Secret Codes in Public Places

Printers use tracking dots:

How printer tracking dots work – the printer you paid for is spying on you

Russian spies hide messages in otherwise mundane photos:

How Russian spies hid secret codes in online photos

Some prisoners have started using Arabic to send coded messages:

FBI Bulletin: Prison Gangs Learn Arabic for Secret Codes

And really, if you think about it, any two people speaking in a foreign language in public are using a code of sorts. Most Americans know only one language with any fluency.

See also:
- How Encryption Works
- How Code Breakers Work

[[[Jump to previous - Stuff that makes you go Hmmm #22 – The airplane modeled after a Mayan Figurine]]]

If you would like to follow Brainstuff on Twitter or Facebook, here are the links:
- Follow Brainstuff on Facebook
- Follow Brainstuff on Twitter

This announcement comes just five months after the DDC opened on the 26th floor of Downtown Detroit’s Penobscot Building and equals the goal originally announced for the end of 2010.

Through their involvement in the DDC, the Blues, DTE and Wayne County are all placing work at the Penobscot Building in downtown Detroit rather than sending it offshore. To date, the Blues have seeded more than 150 IT workers and the current forecast calls for more than 200 by the end of 2010.

“This is a prime example of how strategic business collaboration and ingenuity between two corporations can serve our businesses and the economic growth of our city, region and state,” said Cynthia J. Pasky, S3 president and CEO. “When we opened the DDC, we made a promise to place 150 jobs here by the end of the year. Our team is well on its way toward exceeding our promise.”

BCBSM president and CEO Daniel J. Loepp said at the opening ceremonies earlier this year that the DDC presented a highly desirable opportunity, not only to gain cost efficiency, but to invest in Detroit and to serve as an incubator for “insourcing” jobs in Detroit and Michigan.

“The fact that we’ve surpassed 150 people seeded at the DDC, doing IT application development and other work for the Blues, is strong evidence the Center is working and momentum is building behind the concept,” Loepp said.

As an example of that momentum, he cited the fact that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana recently reached an agreement with S3 to route some of its call center functions through the DDC, with local Michigan workers doing the jobs from downtown Detroit.

BCBSM expects to reach a steady state of 300 IT professionals housed at the DDC in 2011. Wayne County currently has people performing call center jobs from the DDC and DTE just surpassed 60 workers at the Center.

Those individuals hired to staff the DDC are typically placed in well-paying jobs, with salary ranges up to $75,000 per year. Pasky indicated that S3 is intently focused on recruiting Michigan first when it comes to filling these positions. Of those hired so far, 84 percent are Michigan residents and the other 16 percent have relocated to Southeast Michigan.

S3 has United States branch locations in Detroit; Atlanta, Ga.; Boston, Mass.; Los Angeles, Calif.; San Francisco, Calif.; Charlotte, N.C.; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Chicago, Ill.; Minneapolis, Minn.; New Orleans, La.; New York City; Philadelphia, Pa.; Richmond, Va.; St. Louis, Mo.; and Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin in Texas. Internationally, S3 has locations in Vilnius, Lithuania and London, England.

S3 provides consulting and staff augmentation services, vendor management programs, executive search services, call center technology and an IT development center to financial institutions, energy companies, telecommunications, government agencies, retail and health care industries.

(c) 2010, WWJ Newsradio 950. All rights reserved.

Updated: Thursday, 14 Oct 2010, 4:17 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 14 Oct 2010, 4:16 PM EDT

Malware

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.^[1] The term “computer virus” is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, including true viruses.

The global implications of malware are demonstrated by the following article by Computer Weekly dated July 22, 2010:

Dell admits malware on motherboard replacements Thursday 22 July 2010 09:07

Computer maker Dell has admitted that some replacement motherboards installed in four of its server lines were infected with malicious software.

But, the firm said, the error had affected less than 1% of motherboards replaced in the past year and no customers had reported that their servers had been compromised.

The error occurred because the motherboards, infected by the W32.Spybot worm, had not been tested as rigorously as those used when the servers were first made, Dell said.

Software developers and webpage designers must work diligently to prevent security breaches.

Please leave your comments and observations.

Karen Arnold

SNS System

The Taproot Foundation needs business managers, copyeditors/writers, IT specialists, photographers, financial analysts, HR specialists, graphic editors, web and software developers, and project managers who can donate three hours a week to work with a nonprofit group in their area.

Their pro-bono projects include creating marketing materials – brochures, websites, annual reports, and branding; developing board policies, HR policies, and organization bylaws; IT consulting and much more.

It is a great way to help small nonprofits provide critical services to those in need. I am part of a team that is creating an annual report for an organization that provides food and shelter to the homeless. It is a very rewarding experience.

If you live in the Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, or Seattle areas, and would like to join the Taproot team of pro-bono consultants, please click on this link.

Please spread the word and tell them Matthew sent you.

Again, I took the upgrade exams, but since they distinguish the topics pretty well (each topic is covered in a separated section during the questionnaire and has to be completed before moving on to the next), the assessments should be valid for single exams as well – even if the single exams may shift emphasis somewhat.

Logistics

The upgrade is available to those who have the MCPD/EA on .NET 2.0. (This implies that there is no direct upgrade from the older MCSD, sorry Daniel.)

There are two exams that cover the ground of 5 single exams:

• Exam 70-568: UPGRADE: Transition your MCPD Enterprise Application Developer Skills to MCPD Enterprise Application Developer 3.5, Part 1
• Exam 70-569: UPGRADE: Transition your MCPD Enterprise Application Developer Skills to MCPD Enterprise Application Developer 3.5, Part 2

You can learn more about these and other upgrades here.

Part 1 includes the following three parts and respective certifications:

• Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 3.5, ADO.NET Applications
• Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 3.5, ASP.NET Applications
• Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Forms Applications

Part 2 adds another Technology Specialist part and the “Designing and Developing” part that concludes the MCPD:

• Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: .NET Framework 3.5, Windows Communication Foundation Applications
• Designing and Developing Enterprise Applications Using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

All of which concludes the “Microsoft Certified Professional Developer: Enterprise Application Developer 3.5”

More information about single exams is available here.

The Exam Parts

While the last upgrade included a major remapping of the certification scheme, this one is merely keeping up with technological changes. The single parts vary in the amount of change they have undergone and the degree to which they can be considered being up-to-date.

• The ASP.NET part was no big surprise, containing additional questions for ASP.NET AJAX. I’ll call that “reasonably up-to-date”.
   
• The WinForms part hasn’t really changed its content at all. Hardly surprising, since WinForms itself haven’t changed. What has changed with .NET 3.5 though, is the introduction of WPF, a whole new UI technology. WPF is completely missing from the 3.5 exams. Hence, seen as Windows development part, this can hardly be called up-to-date.
   
• The ADO.NET part. Well. I would call that one “unreasonably up-to-date”. It is still mainly focused on DataSets in great detail. Now, I can understand that LINQ2SQL doesn’t qualify for an exam with ADO.NET Entity Framework around the corner. But still! DataSets have gone out-off-fashion even before LINQ2SQL and I really had to scratch some layers of dust from that knowledge.
   
• The WCF Part is probably the most advanced. This used to be the “Building Services” exam, covering remoting and WSE, but those topics are completely gone. This exam is solely focused on WCF, and you have to have a solid understanding about hosting options, configuration, and security to pass this exam.
   
• Designing and Developing hasn’t changed in style, but it incorporates current technologies. Unlike the respective other exams, it actually addresses WPF and ADO.NET Entity Framework as technology choices.

Generally speaking, each and every of these exam parts can be solved by people with reasonable experience in the topic. That should cover ASP.NET, WinForms, and “Designing and Developing” quite nicely. Whether you put ADO.NET in that bag is up to you, but dusting the DataSet knowledge shouldn’t be a showstopper anyway. The only part that is more demanding is the WCF part. Be aware that the questions cover WCF capabilities in general; having created one or the other WCF service or reference in Visual Studio and twisted the configuration somewhat is certainly not going to get you through this exam.

Looking Ahead

.NET 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010 have been released weeks ago and usually it takes Microsoft about a year to prepare the next increment of certifications. So the current 3.5 certification is going to stay valuable for quite some time. Still, a little crystal ball gazing might be fun:

In terms of technologies, .NET 4.0 does not only contain brand new stuff, but also incorporates some technologies that have been around for some time, but not formally part of the .NET Framework. Together with the gaps noted above we have the following list of suspects:

• In the ADO.NET area:
  • LINQ 2 SQL (leaving it out so far may have been lack of time rather than a deliberate choice after all)
  • ADO.NET Entity Framework
• In the ASP.NET area:
  • ASP.NET MVC
  • ASP.NET Dynamic Data
  • perhaps jQuery
• In the Windows Development area:
  • WPF
  • Parallel Extensions (PLINQ, TPL)
• In the Designing and Developing area:
• Visual Studio Architecture features
• Testing features

I do hope that we will see a substitution of content in the ADO.NET area. Please Microsoft, no more DataSets! And it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Microsoft dropped WinForms in favor of WPF, adding a little parallel stuff. ASP.NET on the other hand will certainly grow, as ASP.NET WebForms are not substituted but complemented by the new additions. The new Visual Studio features may result in in just one or the other additional question. But then, they might not, as they are not universally available.

Anyway, this is reasonably manageable for those people trying to keep their certificates up-to-date. For people trying to get their first certification it certainly adds up; but then, they may start with Technology Specialist or the more specific MCPD certificates and build on that.

What parts didn’t I mention? Silverlight is obviously missing from the list. And don’t tell me, it’s not relevant for enterprise development, for it certainly is! But I still can live with that, for it isn’t formally part of the .NET Framework and you have to draw the line somewhere. The same applies to Team Foundation Server.

On the other hand, how can you call yourself a certified “Enterprise Application Developer”, not knowing about TFS or Silverlight?

That’s all for now folks,
AJ.NET

What I do in those situations is fall back to the importance of play.  Playing is the best way to get over whatever is stopping you.  If I have been painting with large brushes, I switch to small, or knives, instead of brushes.  If I have been painting with bright colours, I go for muted.  If my songs are too electronic sounding, I go for a subtle sample or upload some new effect.  If I am writing lyrics, I’ll play around with the form or the rhyming scheme.  I might even try to wedge some strange word into the lyric.

So learn a new chord.  Listen to some music you would never ordinarily listen to.  When programming, look at somebody else’s code or their application.  Try a bigger or smaller canvas.  Paint the light around the subject and not the subject.  Outlaw curved lines.  Pretend you are writing in a foreign language and that it is being translated into English.  The possibilities are endless.

When you’re blocked, try something.  Try anything.  Whatever you do, don’t let it take a hold of you and cripple your creative muscles.  It’s a pernicious cancer that can stop you for months or years.  And if you still can’t break out of the grip of writer’s block, stop taking yourself so seriously.  It’s only art.  Play.  Enjoy.  Find what it was about your art that attracted you to it in the first place.

In whatever you do, you never need to be stuck.  Stuck just means you haven’t played with the infinite possibilities around you.  Let serendipity guide you.  At some level, your subconscious artist is guiding you anyway, you just don’t need to be aware of that.