If you've been updating your web skills and have been looking for a good way to demonstrate that you know your stuff, Microsoft's new MCSD Web Applications track is a good choice. The first exam you'll want to take (just released) is 70-480: Programming HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3. Two other courses will be available in October on MVC4 and Windows Azure / Web Services.
This trio is perfect, covering client-side open standards web development, the Microsoft web platform on the server, and the Microsoft cloud platform. I'll admit I've been kind of cool toward Microsoft certifications in recent years as some of them seemed behind the times--but now that they are being updated with current technologies I'm very excited to have a good way to validate modern web skills.
I took and passed the 70-480 exam today, and although I was well-prepared for the subject matter I found the exam quite challenging. If someone passes this exam, they have my respect. You can't guess your way to a passing score.
Although I'm not permitted to share any details about the exam questions, I will share how I prepared for it:
• Pluralsight Online Training. My colleagues and I have been taking Pluralsight online training for about 10 months now. Pluralsight courses are done well and are taught by knowledgeable instructors. Although Pluralsight courses do have assessments, they are usually only around 8 questions or so. As such, I don't consider them sufficient in terms of coverage.
• Build Stuff. You've got to take these technologies you're learning about and build stuff with them. This is absolutely necessary. If you don't have HTML5/CSS/JavaScript project work readily available, do something on your own. One way or another, get hands-on experience: head knowledge alone won't cut it.
• w3schools. I like the http://w3schools.com site a lot: it's easy to navigate, is succinct, and includes lots of try-it-yourself examples with an easy to use online editor / test facility. Just before my exam, I browsed just about every page on HTML/HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript to fill gaps and refresh my memory. However, you should be aware this site has some accuracy problems. There are some better online references out there in terms of accuracy, but so far I haven't found them terribly accessible.
This exam--and the upcoming rest of the MCSD Web Applications certification track--are here just at the right time. I'm looking forward to taking the other exams in October.
46 comments:
Hi David,
Congratulations on your success. I am planning to take the exam next month. I have some experience of HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. Could you please tell me which type of questions were those? I mean give me some explanation.
Thanks
Adeel
Adeel, I'm not permitted to share any details about the exam questions. As the exam title implies, there are questions on HTML5, on JavaScript, and on CSS3. This is not an easy exam, you need a very good understanding of all three areas. If you haven't been actively doing project work in all 3 for at least a year, an individual probably wouldn't pass.
Hi David,
It would be interesting to know how much HTML5, JS and CSS experience you have and had before starting to study for this exam? Also you mention Pluralsight, was there any particular courses there you used, to prepare for this exam?
Cheers,
Ola
I've been working deeply in HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for the last year (writing code every week). I recommend these Pluralsight courses for front-end web development and 70-480 exam preparation:
• HTML5 Fundamentals
• Introduction to CSS
• CSS3
• A Better CSS: LESS & SASS
• JavaScript Fundamentals
• Structuring JavaScript Code
• jQuery Fundamentals
Hi, I also passed it.
I took the exam back in June. Until today I came to know the result. I also read the Head First HTML5 book, many MSDN and internet articles. I had prior experience with CSS, HTML and javascript/jquery
David,
Do you know whether any MS Press training kits are planned for the client, server, and cloud exams?
Thanks,
Brian
Brian, I'm not aware of any practice materials yet from Microsoft for exam 70-480. However, since it is about open technologies there are lots of places to learn about them outside of Microsoft. I'd pay attention to the Skills Measured section for the exam http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-480#tab2
Hey, would you say it's possible to pass 70-480 without working on any real world projects? I'm currently a student so free time is hard to come by.
If I invested some time into reviewing the training materials and such (and attempted to understand the content that way, without any real world experience), would I have a reasonable chance of passing?
Also, this is my first planned attempt at a MS certification if I do go through with it, are there some general tips regarding such exams?
Thanks!
I wouldn't say it's impossible to pass 70-480 without real-world project work, but it certainly helps. In theory, enough internal practice would also suffice. By the way, Microsoft is current running a promotion where the 70-480 exam--as well as an online preparation course--are FREE for a limited time. See http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/offers/html5.aspx
Hi David and readers,
Congrats again to those who passed exam 480.
For those who are preparing for the exam and wondering about what's covered, you can see the list of skills measured on our exam details page: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-480#tab2
We also recently announced free online training, free ebook plus a free exam voucher for 70-480. Get the details on our blog: http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/btl/b/veronica/archive/2012/10/31/html5-free-training-exam-voucher-and-more.aspx
Good luck!
Veronica Sopher
Community Manager, Microsoft Learning
Thank you David for this blog post, I will start preparing for this exam.
And I will start following your blog too...
Hi David.
I want to know what is the format of questions, means are they MCQ's based, programming based or other format ?
Thanking you in advance,
Regards,
Zeeshan Ali
Most of the questions are multiple choice. A few have you select or drag code snippets into place.
Is Visual Studio Realted Questions are in exam ot not ?
Because i have download a Dumb paper in which lot of Visual Studio Questions are available , sO Em Confuse now :(
please tell me ..
I don't believe there are any Visual Studio related questions on the exam.
Hi David,
Congratulations on your success,
I need to pass the 70-480 exam in with 85% marks.
Can you please tell me how to crack this.
preparation kits like Books or pdf or anything will helps me a lot.
any suggestions are welcome.
kanna, I listed what I used for preparation in the Blog post.
By the way, exam 70-480 is now free for a limited time, along with a jumpstart preparation course!
http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/developing-html5-apps-jump-start
Hello David, I have some experience with web development. I've been working with classic ASP, JavaScript and HTML, quite old technologies. Now I've decided that is time to update my knowlege passing this exam and the following of this certifications (70-486, 70-487), and my objective is to make it on February or March. Now I'm colleting some stuff and start studying. Now I'm following this ebook;
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoft_press/archive/2012/10/29/free-ebook-programming-windows-8-apps-with-html-css-and-javascript.aspx
Seems quite complet, taking into account that the official will be released on April and no one is focused in this exam, do you think it's a good stuff to study?
I haven't read that book yet, but if you'll allow me to judge a book by its cover, it sounds useful.
Microsoft Certification Exam 70-480 is really tough one.What do you think about cisco 70-640
Hi David,
can you please provide me material for this exam , ebook or links ? i don't have any material/ref to read.
@ Jony: http://blog.beckybertram.com/Lists/Exam%2070480%20Study%20Guide/AllItems.aspx
Hey David, thanks so much for providing this information! I'll be taking the exam in less than 3 weeks, and I'm just trying to determine whether or not I need to do any studying of XML. As far as I can tell, I won't need to be proficient with it, but given so many references to it in some of the study material I've seen, I thought asking you would be a good idea.
According to the exam Skills Measured description, yes consuming XML as well as JSON may be covered in the questions.
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?id=70-480#tab2
Hi David,
Congratulations for passing the exam. I just wanted to know if there is any specific passing score for this exam?? (like for oracle certification exams , it is predefined)
Thanks
Priyanka
When you start the exam it will inform you what the passing score needs to be, but I don't recall it.
David, Do you remember the number of questions in the exam?
is this exam free? i heard its offered free if not do tell me the fee
This is all you need to know for the exam:
CSS, CSS3
• http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp
• http://www.w3schools.com/css3/default.asp
HTML, HTML5
• http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
• http://www.w3schools.com/html/html5_intro.asp
• http://www.anthonycalzadilla.com/2010/08/html5-section-aside-header-nav-footer-elements-not-as-obvious-as-they-sound/
HTML DOM
• http://www.w3schools.com/htmldom/default.asp
JAVASCRIPT
• http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp
incl. inheritance & method overriding met prototypes
AJAX
• http://www.w3schools.com/ajax/default.asp
JSON
• http://www.w3schools.com/json/default.asp
JQUERY
• http://www.w3schools.com/jquery/default.asp
REGEXP (basic knowledge)
• http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_obj_regexp.asp
Social security number & e-mail format
This is all you need to know:
CSS, CSS3
• http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp
• http://www.w3schools.com/css3/default.asp
HTML, HTML5
• http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
• http://www.w3schools.com/html/html5_intro.asp
• http://www.anthonycalzadilla.com/2010/08/html5-section-aside-header-nav-footer-elements-not-as-obvious-as-they-sound/
HTML DOM
• http://www.w3schools.com/htmldom/default.asp
JAVASCRIPT
• http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp
incl. inheritance & method overriding met prototypes
AJAX
• http://www.w3schools.com/ajax/default.asp
JSON
• http://www.w3schools.com/json/default.asp
JQUERY
• http://www.w3schools.com/jquery/default.asp
REGEXP (basics)
• http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_obj_regexp.asp
Social security number & e-mail format
Hi Priyanka,
Usually microsoft certifications have the passing score of 700 outof 1000. I've written 3 exams and 700 is the passing score for all. I also writing this in the month of Feb. Any suggestion plzzzzz..:)
The Microsoft Virtual Academy is quite a useful source of information. There are some questions included in the material.
https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/developing-html5-apps-jump-start?o=1945
Hi David, I have experience in using jquery, HTML, CSS and java and j2ee in the backend. Will this certification help me????
Guys, David...
Any one of you currently continuing the exciting the quest of 70-481, 482? Any recommended web links referencing good study materials?
Knightly Deameanour (speaks)
..
The maximum count for the promotion has been exceeded. It will cost $80 now .....
Hi David, Congrats on ur success!! im a student and taking the MS 70-480 exam tomorrow! what is the model of the exam? is it MCQ or single question & answers? Pls help!! i wanna pass this exam!!
thanks alot! :)
Hi David,
Is this exam still free? When I tried to register for it in the Prometics site..is asked me for fee of $ 80.
Please you guide me in this regard.
Hi David/Veronica,
Is the MS Exam 70-480:
Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 still free ? I was asked for a fee of $80, when I tried to register via Prometics.
Please guide.
Hi David,
Thanks for the information..recently cleared with 80%tile....
PS: i am fresher.
I think the free period is over.
The promo for the free exam is good through 3/31/2013. I just registered yesterday.
Will you please describe the ratio of questions between these three.
e.g. html-33%,js-33%,css-33%.
Which topic will be great to score more and easily.
If the free voucher promo is exhausted, then what is the exam fee now?
Promo code is all used up. Test costs $150 now.
Hi david,
thanks for sharing this information. I would like also to congrats for those who passed the exam and goodluck to those who will be taking soon! no need to be proficient, u have all the references to study online.. David also provide it and its a good thing for all of us.. Great post!
ExamCertfiy Test Preparation Material
Thanks for sharing this information. I would also like to congratulate those who passed the test and behaved well with those who will take it soon! You do not have to be competent, you have all the references to study online ... David also provides it and it's a good thing for all of us. Excellent publication! Cisco 400-101 Exam
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