completely meets its claim
Not only all you need for preperation are inside the book but it is a very well organized book comparing to similar ones.
MS Press just kicked it up a notch...
Of about a dozen MS Press training kits I have used, this is the first one to be comprehensive--and better yet, authoritative. For the first time, I used ONLY the training kit when preparing for the exam. For all other exams, I had to additionally reference MSDN, TechNet, etc. Two reasons why this book is great:
1. It is obvious early on in the book that the author, Tony Northrup, knows his stuff. You cannot say that about a majority of exam prep books, where it looks like they just copy and paste exam objectives from Microsoft's site and get diarrhea of the mouth for a few paragraphs per objective.
He was also kind enough to sprinkle throughout the book dozens of surprisingly useful tips for the exam and real world security issues. Another few books like this, and Tony Northrup just might surpass Dino Esposito and Michael Howard as my favorite authors.
2. The accompanying CD is MUCH more useful than the other training kits I have used--it has about 300 questions broken down by objective. It is not just a trial version of a MeasureUp test, and in my opinion, the questions were harder than the actual 70-340 exam.
The only two things I was not too crazy about were quite trivial: the page numbers were annoyingly chapter-based (i.e. 3-25, 5-24, etc); and the trial version of VS 2003 can only be installed once, so that will hurt resale value if used.
The bottom line is that this book does more than enough to prepare you for exams 70-330 and/or 70-340. I will definitely buy more Tony Northrup titles in the future.
Very Very confusing book
Sorry for any harsh comments. But the book is so confusing explaining even simple concepts. I got frustrated when he tries to beat around the bush to explain STRONG NAMES.
I wish there was a Amit Kalani for 70-340.
For that matter, I am not having good experience with any of the Microsoft Press books on .NET
Good .NET Security book.
This will be the book that you must have if you are a newcomer in .NET Security. The explanations are clear, supported by the author's own experience in the field. Also, the code is easy to follow and straightforward.
Overall, a very good book to read on .NET Security.
I rate the book 5-star without the least hesitation.
I just passed the exam 70-340, and this was the book I used in the last 2 weeks.
If you know how to program against .NET but don't know much about .NET security, this is really an excellent textbook and/or a reference book for you. It is written by one who knows the stuff and who knows how to explain tough stuff in plain English. It can certainly get you painlessly started on .NET security right away. I dealt with .NET security in the last 2 years the very hard way. I wish I had read such a book 2 years ago. (Well, on other hand, a book is just a book. It can't substitute real-world experience. Take myself for example, my knowledge on most topics other than CAS and WSE has probably already gone well beyond what the book covers, but I still don't think I do know .NET security very well. I'm no expert on security. So don't expect it will make you a security expert if you are not one yet, though a book like this one can make your road to being a security expert shorter and less painful)
As for passing the exam, I don't know for sure if the book alone is enough. I mean, you'll need intimate knowledge about Windows and how to program .NET before you can truly digest many topics covered in the book - remoting is a good example. The book is very easy to read and understand as long as you have the stated prerequisites (unlike in many other books, the prerequisites stated in this book are very accurate). If you understand the book, you should have little trouble passing the exam - anyway, the exam is designed for anyone who is knowledgeable on .NET security to pass. The book comes with 300 mock test questions - pretty hard to me, and I feel they are much harder than the exam questions I answered moments ago. I only had time to go over about 100 such questions. If you understand the book and also do very well with those questions, passing the exam should be guaranteed!
Despite a well-written book, it has some typos. Its definition of "collusion" contradicts what I learned of the word when studying monopoly as a graduate in economics. Due to the quality of the book, however, the typos can be safely ignored.
I rate the book 5-star without the least hesitation.
(11 reviews)
