Microsoft 70-487: Design a Web API

Exam Objectives

Define HTTP resources with HTTP actions; plan appropriate URI space, and map URI space using routing; choose appropriate HTTP method (get, put, post, delete) to meet requirements; choose appropriate format (Web API formats) for responses to meet requirements; plan when to make HTTP actions asynchronous; design and implement routes

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 4.1
[Blog] Using HTTP Methods (GET, POST, PUT, etc.) in Web API
[Apigee] Web API Design: Crafting Interfaces that Developers Love
[HackerNoon] RESTful API Designing guidelines — The best practices
[MSDN] Web API Routing

[MSDN] Media Formatters in ASP.NET Web API 2
[MSDN] REST URI Support in Web API - Converting UriTemplates to Routes
[PluralSight] Implementing an API in ASP.NET Web API
[Blog] ASP.NET MVC and Web API - Comparison of Async / Sync Actions

Microsoft 70-487: Choose a deployment strategy for an Azure web application

Exam Objectives

Perform an in-place upgrade and VIP swap; configure an upgrade domain; create and configure input and internal endpoints; specify operating system configuration; deploy applications using Azure Web Site

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 5.2
[MSDN] How to update a cloud service
[MSDN] How to manage cloud services
[Blog] What is Windows Azure Fault Domain and Upgrade Domain?
[MSDN] Set up staging environments in Azure App Service
[PluralSight] Windows Azure Web Sites
[GitHub] Publish to Azure using Web Deploy

[GitHub] Setting up a VSTS account so it can deploy to a Web App
[MSDN] Azure Exam Prep – Fault Domains and Update Domains
[MSDN] Enable communication for role instances in azure
[MSDN] Azure Guest OS releases and SDK compatibility matrix
[MSDN] Deploy your app to Azure App Service using FTP/S

Microsoft 70-487: Create, configure, and publish a web package

Exam Objectives

Create an IIS InstallPackage; configure the build process to output a web package; apply pre- and post- condition actions to ensure that transformations are correctly applied; include appropriate assets (web content, certificates)

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 5.5
[MSDN] Web Packaging: Creating web packages using MSBuild
[MSDN] Building and Packaging Web Application Projects (pre-VS2013)
[MSDN] Web Deployment Overview for Visual Studio and ASP.NET
[MSDN] How to: Edit Deployment Settings in Publish Profile 
[Blog] How to build and deploy a web deployment package using MSBuild
[MSDN] Web Deployment Operation
[MSDN] Web Deployment runCommand Provider
[MSDN] Excluding Files and Folders from Deployment

Microsoft 70-487: Configure a web application for deployment

Exam Objectives

Switch from production/release mode to debug mode; use SetParameters to set up an IIS app pool; set permissions and passwords; enable and monitor ASP.NET App Suspend; configure WCF endpoints (including HTTPS protocol mapping), bindings, and behaviors; transform web.config by using XSLT (for example, across development, test, and production/release environments); configure Azure configuration settings

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 5.3
[MSDN] How to: Set Debug and Release Configurations
[MSDN] Understanding Build Configurations

[MSDN] Configuring Parameters for Web Package Deployment
[MSDN] Web Deploy Parameterization
[TechNet] Using declareParam and setParam
[Blog] MSDeploy with Declare and Set parameter files

[MSDN] Configuring Permissions for Team Build Deployment
[MSDN] Basic Security Practices for Web Applications
[MSDN] Best practices for deploying passwords
[Blog] Davidson Sousa - Setting folder permissions using Web Deploy
[Blog] Sayed Hashimi - Setting Folder Permissions on Web Publish
[Blog] Kevin Leetham - Modifying directory permissions with Web Deployment

[MSDN] Enable and monitor ASP.NET App Suspend on Windows Server 2012 R2
[MSDN] ASP.NET App Suspend – responsive shared .NET web hosting

[MSDN] How to: Transform Web.config When Deploying a Web Application Project
[MSDN] Web.config Transformation Syntax for Web Project Deployment
[GitHub] Xdt transform samples

[MSDN] Configure web apps in Azure App Service
[MSDN] Configure Azure cloud service roles with Visual Studio

Microsoft 70-487: Design a deployment strategy

Exam Objectives

Create an IIS install package; deploy to web farms; deploy a web application by using XCopy; automate a deployment from TFS or Build Server

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 5.1
[MSDN] How to: Create a Web Deployment Package in Visual Studio
[MSDN] Using Web Deploy for Web Farms (2009)
[MSDN] Deploy an Application to a Web Farm

[MSDN] Introducing the Microsoft Web Farm Framework
[MSDN] Xcopy
[MSDN] Walkthrough: Deploying an ASP.NET Web Application Using XCOPY
[MSDN] How to: Create an Automated Build and Deployment Solution with TFS
[MSDN] Build and Deployment Automation Case Study 
[Blog] Using Windows Azure VMs to Publish and Synchronize a Web Farm

Microsoft 70-487: Share assemblies between multiple applications and servers

Exam Objectives

Prepare the environment for use of assemblies across multiple servers (interning); sign assemblies by using a strong name; deploy assemblies to the global assembly cache; implement assembly versioning; create an assembly manifest; configure assembly binding redirects (for example, from MVC4 to MVC5)

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 5.6
[MSDN] Programming with Assemblies:
     - How to: Sign an Assembly with a Strong Name
     - How to: Install an Assembly into the Global Assembly Cache
[MSDN] Assemblies in the CLR:
     - Global Assembly Cache
     - Assembly Versioning
     - Assembly Manifest
     - Strong-Named Assemblies
[MSDN] Configuring Assembly Binding Redirection
[MSDN] Redirecting Assembly Versions
[MSDN] Look at Sharing Common Assemblies in ASP.NET 4.5
[MSDN] How the Runtime Locates Assemblies
[StackOverflow] What is the GAC in .NET?

[Blog] Sharing common assemblies with aspnet_intern.exe
[Blog] ASP.NET Assembly Interning
[Blog] Back to Basics: When does a .NET Assembly Dependency get loaded
[YouTube] .NET Assembly Versioning

Microsoft 70-487: Manage packages by using NuGet

Exam Objectives

Create and configure a NuGet package; install and update an existing NuGet package; connect to a local repository cache for NuGet, set up your own package repository

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 5.4
[Software] Nuget Package Explorer, Source
[MSDN] NuGet Documentation:
     -PowerShell Reference
     -Package Creation Workflow
     -Hosting your own NuGet feeds
[Wikipedia] Nuget
[PluralSight] Introduction to NuGet

Microsoft 70-487: Create and configure a WCF service on Azure

Exam Objectives

Create and configure bindings for WCF services (Azure SDK—extensions to WCF); relay bindings to Azure using service bus endpoints; integrate with the Azure service bus relay; host services in Azure (from 3.9);

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 3.7
[MSDN] How to use Azure Relay WCF relays with .NET
[MSDN] Azure WCF Relay tutorial
[MSDN] What is Azure Relay?
[Blog] Azure WCF Web role over http with wshttpbinding

[PluralSight] WCF Power Topics - Working with the Azure Service Bus
[Blog] Deploying A WCF Service On Windows Azure
[Blog] Deploying an Existing WCF Service to Azure

My post on Messaging Patterns

Microsoft 70-487: Host and manage services

Exam Objectives

Manage services concurrency (single, multiple, reentrant); create service hosts; choose a hosting mechanism; choose an instancing mode (per call, per session, singleton); activate and manage a service by using AppFabric; implement transactional services; host services in an Azure worker role

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 3.9
[MSDN] Sessions, Instancing, and Concurrency
[MSDN] How to: Create a Transactional Service
[CodeProject] WCF Concurrency
[MSDN] Hosting
[MSDN] Deploying an Internet Information Services-Hosted WCF Service
[MSDN] How to: Host a WCF Service in a Managed Windows Service
[DotNetCurry] Hosting WCF Service in Windows Server AppFabric
[Blog] Deploying A WCF Service On Windows Azure
[Blog] Deploying an Existing WCF Service to Azure

[PluralSight] WCF End-to-End -

    Hosting and Service Configuration     
    Instancing and Concurrency
    Transaction Handling
[PluralSight] WCF Advanced Topics

Microsoft 70-487: Secure a WCF service

Exam Objectives

Implement message level security, implement transport level security; implement certificates; design and implement multiple authentication modes

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 3.4
[Book] Programming WCF Services - Ch. 10: Security
[MSDN] Programming WCF Security
[MSDN] Message Security in WCF
[MSDN] Transport Security
[MSDN] Working with Certificates
[MSDN] Improving Web Service Security - Chapter 7, Chapter 5 (Auth)
[MSDN] How to: Use Certificate Authentication and Transport Security in WCF
[CodeProject] Nine simple steps to enable X.509 certificates on WCF

[PluralSight] WCF End-to-End - Securing Services
[PluralSight] WCF Design Concepts - Security

Microsoft 70-487: Implement messaging patterns

Exam Objectives

Implement one way, request/reply, streaming, and duplex communication; implement Azure Service Bus and Azure Queues

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 3.8

[MSDN] One-Way Service, How to create, One-Way
[MSDN] Request/Reply Service, How to create
[MSDN] Duplex Service, How to create
[MSDN] Streaming Message Transfer
[MSDN] Large Data and Streaming
[MSDN] Using Service Bus Queues with WCF
[MSDN-Blog] My Hello Azure Service Bus WCF Service
[MSDN] Azure Service Bus
[Blog] WCF Best Practices: One way is not always really one way
[PluralSight] WCF End-to-End - Operations

My post on Creating a Service

Microsoft 70-487: Version a WCF service

Exam Objectives

Version different types of contracts (message, service, data); configure address, binding, and routing service versioning

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 3.6
[Book] Programming WCF Services - Ch. 3: Data Contracts
[MSDN] Versioning Strategies
[MSDN] Best Practices: Data Contract Versioning
[MSDN] Using Message Contracts (Versioning section)
[MSDN] How To: Service Versioning (Routing)
[CodeProject] WCF Routing Service - Part IV: Service Versioning

[PluralSight] WCF Power Topics - Versioning Your Services

Microsoft 70-487: Consume WCF services

Exam Objectives

Generate proxies by using SvcUtil; generate proxies by creating a service reference; create and implement channel factories

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 3.5
[Book] Programming WCF Services

[MSDN] Clients

[MSDN] Accessing Services Using a WCF Client
[CSharpCorner] Channel Factory in WCF

PluralSight WCF Library
My github repo for WCF Examples

Microsoft 70-487: Configure WCF services by using the API

Exam Objectives

Configure service behaviors; configure service endpoints; configure binding; specify a service contract; expose service metadata (XSDs, WSDL, and metadata exchange); WCF routing and discovery features

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 3.3
[Book] Programming WCF Services (in particular, Appendix C: Discovery)
[MSDN] Configuring WCF Services in Code (.NET 4.5+)

[MSDN] How to: Publish Metadata for a Service Using Code

[MSDN] How to: Create a Service Endpoint in Code
[MSDN] WCF Discovery
[MSDN] Routing

PluralSight WCF Library - WCF Power Topics in particular (routing and discovery)
My post on file based config

My github repo for WCF Examples

Microsoft 70-487: Configure WCF services by using configuration settings

Exam Objectives

Configure service behaviors; configure service endpoints; configure bindings including WebSocket bindings; specify a service contract; expose service metadata (XSDs, WSDL, and metadata exchange endpoint); configure message compression and encoding

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 3.2
[MSDN] Configuring Services Using Configuration Files
[MSDN] Configuring and Extending the Runtime with Behaviors
[MSDN] Reference Source (.NET Source code search!)
[MSDN] Windows Communication Foundation Bindings
[MSDN] System-Provided Bindings
[MSDN] Choosing a Message Encoder

My Post - PluralSight WCF Library

My GitHub Repo with the WCF Examples.

Microsoft 70-487: Create a WCF service

Exam Objectives

Create contracts (service, data, message, callback, and fault); implement message inspectors; implement asynchronous operations in the service

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 3.1
[Book] Programming WCF Services
[MSDN] Define a Windows Communication Foundation Service Contract

[MSDN] Using Data Contracts
[MSDN] Using Message Contracts
[MSDN] Fault Contract
[MSDN] Create a Duplex Contract
[MSDN] Message Inspectors
[MSDN] How to inspect and modify WCF message via custom MessageInspector
[MSDN] How to modify a WCF message using an IDispatchMessageInspector?
[MSDN] Implement an Asynchronous Service Operation
[MSDN] Synchronous and Asynchronous Operations
[MSDN] Asynchronous Programming Patterns

PluralSight WCF Library

PluralSight has a pretty robust collection of WCF related courses.  I decided it would be useful to index the concepts covered in the courses I watched (as part of putting together to 70-487 study guide).

Microsoft 70-487: Implement transactions

Exam Objectives

Manage transactions by using the API from System.Transactions namespace; implement distributed transactions; specify transaction isolation level 

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 1.3
[MSDN] System.Transactions Namespace
[MSDN] Distributed Transactions
[MSDN] Distributed Transactions Overview
[MSDN] Introducing System.Transactions in the .NET Framework 2.0
[MSDN] Transactions in WCF Services
[MSDN] Transaction Processing
[MSDN] Long Running Transactions
[MSDN] Transaction Isolation Levels

[PluralSight] Understanding .NET and WCF Transactions
[Wikipedia] Transaction Processing
[StackOverflow] Why is TransactionScope default Isolation level Serializable
[Book] Database Management Systems (2nd Ed.) - Ch. 18
[YouTube] Database Management Systems Lecture 24 and Lecture 25

My post: Query data using ADO.NET
My code samples on GitHub

Microsoft 70-487: Implement data storage in Azure

Exam Objectives

Access data storage in Azure; choose data storage mechanism in Azure (blobs, tables, queues, SQL Database); distribute data by using the Content delivery network (CDN); handle exceptions by using retries (SQL Database); manage Azure Caching

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 1.4
[PluralSight] Windows Azure Storage In-Depth
[MSDN] Introduction to Microsoft Azure Storage (complete docs)
[MSDN] Storage Queues vs Service Bus Queues
[MSDN] Azure SQL Database Documentation
[MSDN] Azure Redis Cache FAQ
[MSDN] Azure Redis Videos
[MSDN] Azure Storage Client Library Retry Policy Recommendations
[MSDN] Transient fault handling
[MSDN] Retry Guidance for Specific Services
[MSDN] Overview of Azure CDN
[MSDN] What is the Azure SQL Database service?
[MSDN] Microsoft Azure Table Storage - Not Your Father's Database
[MSDN] Azure Storage Table Design Guide
[MSDN] Using Azure PowerShell with Azure Storage
[Channel9] Windows Azure Tables and Queues Deep Dive

Microsoft 70-487: Implement caching

Exam Objectives

Cache static data, apply cache policy (including expirations); use CacheDependency to refresh cache data; query notifications

Quick Overview of Training Materials

Exam Ref 70-487 - Chapter 1.2
[MSDN] System.Runtime.Caching
[MSDN] Detecting Changes with SqlDependency
[CodeProject] .NET 4.0 MemoryCache with SqlChangeMonitor
[CodeProject] Query Notification using SqlDependency and SqlCacheDependency

My GitHub Sample Code
70-486: Design a caching strategy