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Microsoft Set To Retire Slew of MCSD-Related Exams

Developers working toward SharePoint 2013 and Windows Store-related exams and certifications might need to step up exam-taking efforts, as exams are set to retire in September.

A hat tip to Vlad Catrinescu, who blogs about a number of SharePoint- and Windows Apps-themed developer exams that Microsoft will be retiring in September. It's not just a retirement, but the end for some certifcations, as even the recertification exams for the related certifications are also being retired.

Catrinescu alludes to a release posted on the Microsoft site, so I went in search of said release on the Microsoft Learning site. Didn't find it. A few keystrokes in a search engine and it dawned on me that I'd find the information on the Born2Learn blog. You can find that note here, and a more comprehensive and updated list of developer exam retirements here.

Retirements aren't the end of the world, as long as you take the exams before they're no longer available. So, time is of the essence if you're getting nearer to completing a cert path to a title. Remember that the certifications remain valid and on your transcript forever in case if you ever need to prove that you're an MCSD: (you never know -- there's still a call for COBOL developers after many decades, so technology never dies in some of the darkening corners of industry).

Here are ten more links I've run across that might be useful to you, in no particular order and definitely not conforming to any particular theme:

The Basics of Web Application Security (MartinFowler.com) Best security practices for developers

Why I No Longer Use MVC Frameworks (InfoQ) Don't argue with Jean-Jacques Dubray; he's already made up his mind

5 Steps to Creating A Database For DocumentDB In Microsoft Azure(C# Corner) NoSQL in its natural environment

How Ohio Republicans Use APIs and Zapier (Programmable Web) Good or bad, technology being used to hasten the election process...

Behind the Scenes: Making the 2016 Iowa Caucus App (Channel 9) Not only in Ohio, but also in Iowa

UWP Tile Generator Extension for Visual Studio (Windows Developer Blog) Tiles don't have to be so boring

A .NET port of Scientist (You've Been Haacked) Experimenting with code comparing via a Ruby library

Package manager in VSTS (Alkampfer's Place) Package manager is in preview, but still incredibly useful

Why is there such hostility towards C++? (Reddit) Those double-plus signs can seem intimidating

Inside ASP.NET Core 1.0 with Damian Edwards (The Hanselminutes Podcast) Don't freak out! It's just a renaming

Know of an interesting link, or does your company have a new or updated product or service targeted at Visual Studio developers? Tell me about it at [email protected].

About the Author

You Tell 'Em, Readers: If you've read this far, know that Michael Domingo, Visual Studio Magazine Editor in Chief, is here to serve you, dear readers, and wants to get you the information you so richly deserve. What news, content, topics, issues do you want to see covered in Visual Studio Magazine? He's listening at [email protected].

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