Developer Certifications Delayed for .NET

Microsoft is reorganizing its developer certifications around its new development suite, Visual Studio .NET (VS.NET), and its new C# development language, and is adding a new certification that reflects the real-world requirements of many developers. But the changes mean that developer certifications will slow as certification candidates wait for the new exams to be released. In fact, new Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) certifications have been halted until 2003. However, candidates can use the time to familiarize themselves with .NET technologies and the VS.NET development environment so that they can pass the exams when they become available.

Delay for VS.NET and Windows .NET Server

The reason for the delay is that the company could not begin exam development until VS.NET was released in Feb. 2002. In addition, one exam required for the MCSD certification will not be released until after Windows .NET Server ships in late 2002.

The delay also reflects Microsoft’s new system of “versioned” certifications. Rather than expiring certifications that were earned on platforms no longer available (e.g., a MCSD certification based on Visual Studio 5), Microsoft now identifies certifications by the platform on which they were earned. Thus, the new premium developer certification is Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) for .NET, and all the required exams for this certification involve Visual Studio .NET. Most of the elective exams cover .NET Enterprise Server products, such as SQL Server and BizTalk Server. (For more information about certification versions, see “Microsoft Certification Broadened, Extended” on page 28 of the Dec. 2001 Update.)