The story started almost a year ago when the CEO of our company and my project manager insisted that I get Microsoft certification. Two exams are required: Exam 70-483: Programming in C#, or Exam 70-486: Developing ASP.NET MVC Web Applications. I chose to tackle the C# exam (70-483) first, as I thought it might be the easier option of the two. Nevertheless, the exam syllabus for C# was substantial, and I was determined to take the exam after four months of preparation. 

Preparing for the C# Exam

Even though I knew C# quite well, I started the exam preparations from the beginning by watching C# sharp tutorial videos from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXmVym6L8dw&list=PLAC325451207E3105

I watched all the videos to brush up my knowledge on C# basics, and found it very helpful.

Next, I read the exam guide that covers all the topics from the syllabus. This allowed me to get a grasp of the scope of the syllabus, and helped me identify other helpful resources. Two additional books that I found useful were ‘C# Fundamentals for Absolute Beginners’ and ‘Programming in C# Jump Start’. One of the best ways to thoroughly prepare for this exam is by going through the Microsoft documentation for C#.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/programming-guide/

I was lucky enough to have a lot of support at the office. During the time that I was preparing for the exam, I was working on relevant live projects at the office. These were MVC based projects with WEB API and Azure. Working on the project implementation allowed me to consolidate the theoretical concepts from the videos and books. Furthermore, the seniors in the team helped me by sharing their extensive practical experience. 

Taking the exam:

You can schedule the C# exam from this link https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-70-483.aspx. I scheduled my exam at 11:30 AM, on a weekday so I could reach the exam center easily and then go straight to the office. You do also have the option to take the exam from home, but I prefered to go to the Microsoft training center. 

The C# exam was MCQ based, and the questions ranged from basic to advanced  C#. The majority of the questions were scenario based, and could be flagged and returned to. The exceptions were four problem-based questions which could not be returned to. The exam was not easy, and I believe that some practical experience in C# programming is necessary to pass. I was very pleased to pass the exam on my first attempt.

Preparing for the MVC Exam

I started preparing for the second exam on MVC Web applications the day  after passing the first one. I gave myself 5 months to study for the exam. The resources I used for the Web Applications exam were similar to the resources I used for the C# exam. I relied heavily on the exam reference book ‘Exam Ref 70-486: Developing ASP.NET MVC 4 Web Applications’ to best understand the scope of the exam. Another book I found useful was: ‘Pro ASP.NET MVC 5’. I also used youtube videos, the microsoft documentation, and various other websites linked below.

Links-
https://youtube.com/watch?v=-pzwRwYlXMw
https://examref.com/MCSD/70-486/1
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/mvc/overview/getting-started/introduction/getting-started
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/?view=aspnetcore-3.1
https://www.guru99.com/microsoft-azure-tutorial.html

During the time I was preparing, training was conducted in the office for ASP .Net Core. This was helpful as the syllabus of the MVC exam newly included ASP .Net Core and I had no prior experience with it. Following this training, the project manager encouraged the team to convert a live MVC project to .Net Core. This allowed me to gain valuable hands-on experiences with this new platform. 

You can schedule the MVC exam using the link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-70-486.aspx. 

The MVC exam questionnaire starts with a number of questions about a case study, based on a real-world example. The rest of the questions are scenario-based. 

Although I found the exam very difficult, I was really pleased to pass with a good score on my first attempt, and to finally get the MCSA Certification. After I finished the exam I returned to the office, there was quite a celebration in the office and it made my day!

MetaSys has a team of developers working on Microsoft technologies and building dynamic web applications using ASP.NET, ASP.NET CORE and SQL Server. For more info on the kind of projects handled by us https://www.metasyssoftware.com/case-study-dotnet

Case study

Our client wanted a way to efficiently track day to day reporting, check the status and progress of different tasks, and financial metrics like revenue, costs and profit-loss data. Previously, they had to access several different reports to analyse the overall business performance. We built a dashboard that allowed them to visualise the day to day business activities on a single screen, saving time and energy.

We decided to use Google Charts for a number of reasons:

• Google Charts are a good tool for visualization as the graphics are highly interactive.
• There is a large gallery of chart types that allow for a lot of customisation for representing different kinds of data.
• It is compatible with different browsers.

Technology and Implementation

For the implementation of the dashboard we used jQuery and ASP.net. These technologies are easy to use, and allow for easy rendering of the page. Furthermore, Google Charts have an inbuilt library in jQuery.

Implementation steps of Google chart in ASP.NET

Before the implementation, all the Google Chart Libraries and the visualization API need to be loaded. The following procedure was used to include a chart in ASP.net:

1. Create an html div to hold the chart as per our requirement.
2. Ajax call for loading data in the chart
3. Call the Visualization API before assigning it to the chart and set the chart options like legends and axis titles
4. Assign the div id to the chart
5. The call to the chart depends on the chart type (barchart, donut chart etc.).
6. Call the draw method of the Google chart and set the chart option.

Chart examples

Donut Chart:

Stack Chart:

Matching client requirements

Our main challenge was to modify the chart to meet the clients needs.  For example, the client specified that the revenue chart was to be displayed in a rectangular format without a legend, or axes. We identified the “Timeline chart” as the most appropriate chart option amongst the templates although it still required customization. We modified the inbuilt generated SVG code from JavaScript by specifying the position and width and by hiding the x- and y-axes to match the client requirements.

If you are interested in a similar implementation of data visualisation, feel free to contact us. Our team has extensive experience in handling diverse custom ASP.NET application projects. https://www.metasyssoftware.com/contact