Microsoft offers a set of certifications that validate a software developer’s expertise in Microsoft technologies. Certifications such as the Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) are achieved by passing a set of related certification exams, each with a different technology focus.
Learning path objective:
Prepare developers for Microsoft exam 70-487, Developing Microsoft Azure and Web Services.
At first glance, this list of courses may seem daunting. But this is because Pluralsight’s developer courses are designed to provide comprehensive coverage of a specific programming language, developer tool, platform or service. Microsoft certification exams, however, are designed to test a developer’s knowledge of a broad set of tools and techniques spanning several different technology areas.
As a result, developers who work through every course listed here will learn far more than what is required in order to pass this specific certification exam. To learn more about the relative weight of each major topic on the exam — which can serve as a guide to specific modules within these courses that are directly relevant to this exam — consult the Microsoft exam page listed above, in addition to the information here and on each course’s home page within the Pluralsight library.
Target audience:
This learning path is intended for software developers who are interested in passing Microsoft exam 70-487, a component of the following MCSD certification.
Learning path course sequence:
| Course | Duration |
| Introduction to Windows Azure | 2h 25m |
| Fundamentals of Azure Cloud Services and Storage | 1h 52m |
| Web API Design | 2h 17m |
| Implementing an API in ASP.NET Web API | 6h 14m |
| Web API v2 Security | 6h 12m |
| 10 Ways to Build Web Services in .NET | 6h 02m |
| Identity and Access Control in WCF 4.5 | 3h 12m |
| Understanding .NET and WCF Transactions | 1h 04m |
| ADO.NET Fundamentals | 4h 06m |
| Getting Started with Entity Framework 5 | 4h 23m |
| The Many Approaches to XML Processing in .NET Applications | 4h 22m |
| XSLT 2.0 and 1.0 Foundations | 8h 45m |
| CLR Fundamentals | 4h 20m |
| Introduction to NuGet | 4h 10m |
| Total | 59h 30m |
Learning path description:
If you’re new to Microsoft Azure, you can get started by taking a look at Matt Milner’s introduction to Azure course, followed by his overview of Azure service and storage offerings.
For in-depth coverage on exam topics relating to ASP.NET Web API, including securing Web API implementations, you’ll want to check out Shawn Wildermuth’s API design course, followed by his in-depth look at implementing APIs using ASP.NET Web API. Dominick Baier’s Web API security course rounds out the Web API story.
To prepare for exam coverage on ASP.NET web services and WCF, start with Chad McCallum’s survey of web service options on the .NET platform, and dig into WCF identity and access control with Dominick Baier, along with WCF transactions with Mohamad Halabi.
For data related topics, consult Herve Roggero’s comprehensive coverage of ADO.NET, and Julie Lerman’s course on Entity Framework, which includes coverage of database-first, model-first and code-first modeling.
XML-related coverage can be found in Paul Sheriff’s treatise on the many ways to process XML in .NET, as well as Dimitre Novatchev’s comprehensive course on XSLT 1.0 and 2.0.
For insight into exam topics relating to assembly signing and the global assembly cache, refer to coverage in the CLR Fundamentals course. For help with exam topics on NuGet, including how to create and publish custom packages, John V. Petersen’s introduction to NuGet course will prove helpful.