Week #2 (49/07): .NET Interoperation (2nd Week)

"Interoperation is a generic name used to refer to the process of interacting with unmanaged code from within managed code. Although the .NET Framework 2.0 provides a vast amount of functionality, two issues make Interoperation necessary:

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Many companies have a large amount of legacy code, code that was expensive to develop and has already been tested.
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Not every Microsoft Windows API has been wrapped for the .NET Framework 2.0, so some tasks are possible only if you use Interoperation.

For example, an application might need to take control of Microsoft Office Excel and perform a processing routine. Because the Excel library isn't written in .NET, you need to access it through Component Object Model (COM). COM and .NET are two very different execution environments, so the only way to share libraries between them is to use Interoperation, which is also known as Interop."

Week #1 (48/07): .NET Interoperation

This is the beginning of a new concept for my preparation for Exam 70-536. I wonder if it's still valid since framework 3.0 came out.

Nevertheless, every week will handle a certain topic of the preparation guide for the exam. In this week it's the topic of chapter 13: Interoperation.

Preparations for 70-536

So I have started my preparations for the test. I bought the Self-Paced Training Kit for the Exam. There are 16 chapters I have to work through. I have already registered for a test in one of the certification test centers (02-26-2007). There is a special offer now which is call "exam insurance". You pay 190 Euro instead of 140 Euro. If you fail the exam you can do a second exam for free. If you pass the next exam will cost 25% less.

Up to now I have worked through four chapters of the book - so there are 12 chapters are left to learn. It is most of the time fun to learn, but of course there are also lessons which are somewhat boring or where the exercises are not very applicable.

I have to remind myself that I don't learn for the test but for my own knowledge. Sometimes I forget that the exam serves only as motivation and a guideline!