MCSD .NET

Yesterday I passed my last exam (070-300) for becoming Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) for .NET. It took me almost 2 years to take all necessary exams.

• 31/03/2003 : 070-306
  Developing and Implementing Windows-based Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
• 23/07/2003 : 070-305
  Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
• 22/06/2004 : 070-310
  Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework
• 25/10/2004 : 070-229
  Designing and Implementing Databases with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition
• 28/02/2005 : 070-300
  Analyzing Requirements and Defining Microsoft .NET Solution Architectures

Working full-time as a consultant for a client makes it often difficult to plan/schedule the exams but after all it's not so bad that some time has elapsed between the different exams : it lets you in a way gradually grow in the .NET environment. I also think that the MCSD-certificate has a more theoretical value and that a lof of attention still has to be paid on the practical experiences. This doesn't mean that the exams are a waste of time, because they let you dig into topics you've never worked with before in practice and they give you a broader view of the possibilities you have in .NET. The combination of theory (what is possible and how should I apply it in an ideal situation) and practice (what have I learnt from the past) makes a good developer!