What lesser known parts of the ".NET Application Development Foundation" exam have you actually used and in what context?

Question

For various reasons I have decided its time to take some .NET exams, I'm starting with 70-536, Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 - Application Development Foundation.

As part of the study, I'm going through some practice tests and realise there is a lot of stuff that I've never or rarely used in 6-7 years of .NET experience (mostly building web sites).

Have I been missing out? Is there something in this exam that I should have been using in my day to day work?

Have you used BitVectors, created dynamic assemblies, overriden default evidence for assembly etc in your day to day work?

Answer 1

A lot of stuff you need to know when building .net desktop app, are not needed for a web-application. You might never run in some of the "advanced" details of assembly loading & versioning, but some people do all the time.

Also, it won't hurt to get introduced to unknown stuff like "overriden default evidence for assembly". It might be a better solution to a problem you already run into, but you solved in a different way because you didn't know there was even an evidence file / registry.

There is another secret: MS Certifications are good for impressing clients, or a new employer. But even if you have all the certificates MS can come up with, you can still suck as a developer (or visa-versa). ;-)

Answer 2

Personally, I think one of the major points of certificates is that studying for them forces me to delve into areas of a subject that I have not yet encountered in my professional work.

Hopefully it makes me a more well-rounded developer to take the time to study things that are not immediately necessary for my work.

It also makes me aware of alternative solutions for problems that, once I have found a quick fix for at work, I have then not bothered to explore further. It has happened a lot of times when studying for an exam that I have thought "Ouch! Knowing that a few months ago would have saved me a ton of work".