Exam 70-486 Objectives and Resources

• 1. Design the application architecture
  • Plan the application layers
  • Design a distributed application
  • Design and implement the Azure Web Apps life cycle
  • Configure state management
  • Design a caching strategy
  • Design and implement a Web Socket strategy
  • Design a configuration management solution
  • Interact with the host environment
  • Compose an application by using the framework pipeline
• 2. Design the build and deployment architecture
  • Design a browser artifact build strategy
  • Design a server build strategy
  • Design a publishing strategy
  • Implement an Azure deployment strategy
  • Implement a on-premises deployment strategy
• 3. Design the User Experience
  • Create elements of the user interface for a web application
  • Design and implement UI behavior
  • Design the UI layout of an application
  • Plan a responsive UI layout
  • Plan mobile UI strategy
• 4. Develop the User Experience
  • Plan for search engine optimization and accessibility
  • Plan and implement globalization and localization
  • Design and implement MVC controllers and actions
  • Design and implement routes
  • Control application behavior by using MVC extensibility points
  • Design and implement serialization and model binding
• 5. Troubleshoot and Debug Web Applications
  • Prevent and troubleshoot runtime issues
  • Design an exception handling strategy
  • Test a web application
  • Debug an Azure application
• 6. Design and Implement Security
  • Configure authentication
  • Configure and apply authorization
  • Design and implement claims-based authentication
  • Manage data integrity
  • Implement a secure site

Weighting: 15-20%

Objectives:

• Plan data access
• plan for separation of concerns, appropriate use of models, views, controllers, components, and service dependency injection
• choose between client-side and server-side processing
• design for scalability
• choose between ASP.NET Core and ASP.NET
• choose when to use .NET standard libraries

References:

• Choose between ASP.NET 4.x and ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Design a hybrid application
• plan for session management in a distributed environment
• plan web farms
• run Microsoft Azure services on-premises with Azure Pack
• enable deferred processing through Azure features including queues, scheduled and on-demand jobs, Azure Functions, and Azure Web Jobs

References:

• Distributed caching in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Identify and implement Start, Run, and Stop events
• code against application events in applications
• configure startup tasks, including IIS, app pool configuration, and third-party tools

References:

• How to configure and run startup tasks for a cloud service
• Common Cloud Service startup tasks
• Windows Azure Start-up Tasks Part 1
• RoleEntryPoint.OnStart Method

Objectives:

• Choose a state management mechanism including in-process, out of process, and Redis-based state management
• plan for scalability
• use cookies or local storage to maintain state
• apply configuration settings in web.config files
• implement sessionless state including query strings
• configure middleware to enable session and application state in ASP.NET Core

References:

• Session and app state in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Implement page output caching and data caching
• create cache profiles
• implement HTTP caching
• implement Azure Redis caching
• plan a content delivery network (CDN) strategy, for example, Azure CDN

References:

• Response caching in ASP.NET Core
• Compare Azure CDN product features

Objectives:

• Read and write string and binary data asynchronously
• choose a connection loss strategy
• decide when to use Web Sockets
• implement SignalR
• enable web socket features in an Azure Web App instance

References:

• WebSocket
• Introduction to ASP.NET Core SignalR
• WebSockets support in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Manage configuration sources, including XML, JSON, and INI files
• manage environment variables
• implement Option objects
• implement multiple environments using files and hierarchical structure
• manage sensitive configuration
• react to runtime configuration changes
• implement a custom configuration source
• secure configuration by using Azure Key Vault
• use the Secret Manager tool in development to keep secrets out of your code for configuration values

References:

• Tutorial: Use Azure Key Vault with an Azure web app in .NET
• Add Key Vault to your web application by using Visual Studio Connected Services
• Safe storage of app secrets in development in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Work with file system using file providers
• work with environment variables
• determine hosting environment capabilities
• implement native components, including PInvoke and native dependencies for hosts including Linux and Windows
• use ASP.NET hosting on an Open Web Interface for .NET (OWIN)-based server

References:

• Open Web Interface for .NET (OWIN) with ASP.NET Core
• Native interoperability
• File Providers in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Add custom request processing modules to the pipeline
• add, remove, and configure services used in the application
• design and implement middleware
• design for kestrel, Http.sys web server and IIS
• design and implement startup filters

References:

• ASP.NET Core Middleware
• App startup in ASP.NET Core
• Resolving ASP.NET Core Startup Class from the DI Container

Weighting: 10-15%

Objectives:

• Design a JavaScript build pipeline using Gulp, Grunt, npm and Bower
• design an artifact build strategy using Less, Sass and Font Awesome
• design and implement a bundling and minification strategy for browser artifacts, including JavaScript, CSS and images

Objectives:

• Manage NuGet dependencies
• target runtimes, including the full .NET Framework, .NET core, and .NET standard
• manage debug and release configurations, including compilation and optimization options
• include or exclude files from build
• manage build sources, including content, resources, and shared files
• implement metadata for projects, including version, release notes, and descriptions
• define other build options, including xmlDoc and warningsAsErrors
• work with static files in ASP.NET core

References:

• dotnet build
• Additions to the csproj format for .NET Core
• How to generate XML documentation for CSPROJ with multiple targets
• A mapping between project.json and csproj properties

Objectives:

• Implement application publishing using dotnet.exe
• manage publishing options in csproj
• implement additional tooling
• implement pre-publish and post-publish scripts
• implement native compilation
• publish to Docker container image

Objectives:

• Deploy Azure Web App using supported deployment models including FTP, Kudu, Web Deploy, and Visual Studio Publishing Wizard
• provision ARM- based resources while deploying applications
• implement deployment environments, including dev, test, and prod in Azure
• use deployment slots for staging sites
• deploy to Azure Stack

References:

• Set up staging environments in Azure App Service

Objectives:

• Deploy application to IIS using Web Deploy, xcopy, and Visual Studio Publishing Wizard
• deploy application to Windows Nano Server, deploy application to IIS Hosted Web Core, deploy application to HTTP.sys web server
• deploy application to Kestrel on Windows and Linux
• implement reverse proxying to Kestrel using IIS and Nginx

References:

• HTTP.sys web server implementation in ASP.NET Core
• Kestrel web server implementation in ASP.NET Core
• Host and deploy ASP.NET Core
• Host ASP.NET Core on Windows with IIS
• Host ASP.NET Core on Linux with Nginx

Weighting: 15-20%

Objectives:

• Create and apply styles by using CSS
• structure and lay out the user interface by using HTML
• implement dynamic page content based on a design

References:

• Pseudo-classes
• Combinators and selector lists
• What is the difference between :first-child and :first-of-type?

Objectives:

• Implement client-side validation
• use JavaScript to manipulate the DOM
• extend objects by using prototypal inheritance
• use AJAX to make partial page updates

References:

• Inheritance in JavaScript
• RegExp
• Ajax
• What is JSONP, and why was it created

Objectives:

• Implement partial views and view components for reuse in different areas of the application
• design and implement pages by using Razor Pages
• design and implement layouts to provide visual structure
• define and render optional and required page sections
• create and use tag and HTML helpers to simplify markup

References:

• Views in ASP.NET Core MVC
• Partial views in ASP.NET Core
• ASP.NET Core built-in Tag Helpers

Objectives:

• Plan for applications that run on multiple devices and screen resolutions
• use media queries and Bootstrap’s responsive grid
• detect browser features and capabilities
• create a web application that runs across multiple browsers and mobile devices
• enable consistent cross-browser experiences with polyfills

References:

• Using the viewport meta tag to control layout on mobile browsers
• @media
• Using media queries
• HTML media attribute

Objectives:

• Implement mobile specific UI elements such as touch input, low bandwidth situations, and device oritentation changes
• define and implement a strategy for working with mobile browsers

Weighting: 15-20%

Objectives:

• Use analytical tools to parse HTML
• provide an xml sitemap and robots.txt file to improve scraping
• write semantic markup for accessibility, for example, screen readers
• use rich snippets to increase content visibility

References:

• Accessibility
• ARIA

Objectives:

• Plan a localization strategy
• create and apply resources to UI including JavaScript resources
• set cultures
• implement server side localization and globalization

References:

• Globalization and localization in ASP.NET Core
• ASP.NET Globalization and Localization
• ASP.NET Web Page Resources Overview
• How to: Retrieve Resource Values Programmatically

Objectives:

• Apply authorization attributes, filters including global, authentication, and overriddable filters
• choose and implement custom HTTP status codes and responses
• implement action results
• implement MVC areas
• implement Dependency Injection for services in controllers

References:

• Filters in ASP.NET Core
• Format response data in ASP.NET Core Web API
• Controller action return types in ASP.NET Core Web API
• Dependency injection into controllers in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Define a route to handle a URL pattern
• apply route constraints
• ignore URL patterns
• add custom route parameters
• define areas
• define routes that interoperate with Single Page Application frameworks such as Angular

References:

• Routing in ASP.NET Core
• Routing to controller actions in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Create custom middleware and inject it into the pipeline
• implement MVC filters and controller factories
• control application behavior by using action results, model binders, and route handlers
• inject services into a view

References:

• Write custom ASP.NET Core middleware
• Custom ASP.NET Core Middleware Example
• Dependency injection into views in ASP.NET Core
• Filters in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Serialize models and data using supported serialization formats, including JSON, XML, protobuf, and WCF/SOAP
• implement model and property binding, including custom binding and model validation
• implement web socket communication in MVC
• implement file uploading and multipart data
• use AutoRest to build clients

References:

• SerializableAttribute Class
• XML and SOAP Serialization
• Model Binding in ASP.NET Core
• WebSockets support in ASP.NET Core

Weighting: 20-25%

Objectives:

• Troubleshoot performance, security, and errors
• implement tracing, logging, and debugging including IntelliTrace
• enable and configure health monitoring including Performance Monitor
• configure and use App Insights runtime telemetry

References:

• Trace the flow of a Cloud Services application with Azure Diagnostics

Objectives:

• Handle exceptions across multiple layers
• use MVC middleware to configure error handling
• use different exception handling strategies for different environments
• create and display custom error pages
• configure a custom pipeline for error handling
• handle first chance exceptions
• configure and use App Insights
• log application exceptions

Objectives:

• Create and run unit tests, for example, use the Assert class, create mocks and stubs
• create and run web tests including using Browser Link
• debug a web application in multiple browsers and mobile emulators
• use Azure DevTest Labs
• use Visual Studio Team Services

References:

• Use Azure DevTest Labs for VM and PaaS test environments
• Unit testing C# in .NET Core using dotnet test and xUnit

Objectives:

• Collect diagnostic information by using Azure App Insights
• choose log types, for example, event logs, performance counters, and crash dumps
• stream logs directly to Visual Studio from a deployed site
• debug an Azure application by using Visual Studio and remote debugging
• interact directly with remote Azure websites using Server Explorer

References:

• Troubleshoot an app in Azure App Service using Visual Studio
• LogLevel Enumeration
• Azure Diagnostics 1.3 and later configuration schema

Weighting: 15-20%

Objectives:

• Authenticate users
• enforce authentication settings
• implement ASP.NET Core Identity
• enable Facebook, Google and other external providers
• implement account confirmation, password recovery, and multi-factor authentication
• perform authentication using Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory B2C, Azure Active Directory B2B, and Microsoft Identity manage user session by using cookies
• acquire access tokens using the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL)

References:

• Introduction to Identity on ASP.NET Core
• Configure ASP.NET Core Identity
• Facebook, Google, and external provider authentication in ASP.NET Core
• Account confirmation and password recovery in ASP.NET Core
• Azure Active Directory with ASP.NET Core
• Tutorial - Enable your Web Apps to sign-in users and call APIs with the Microsoft identity platform for developers
• Azure AD with ASP.NET Core 2.0
• Azure AD Authentication in ASP.NET Core APIs part 1: Basic setup, checking scopes, creating a test client

Objectives:

• Create roles
• authorize roles programmatically
• configure and work with custom UserStores using middleware
• configure controllers and actions to participate in authorization

References:

• Razor Pages authorization conventions in ASP.NET Core
• Simple authorization in ASP.NET Core
• Role-base authorization in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Perform authentication and authorization using tokens including OpenID, OAuth, JWT, SAML, bearer tokens, etc.

References:

• Claims-based authorization in ASP.NET Core
• Policy-based authorization in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Apply encryption to application data
• apply encryption to the configuration sections of an application
• sign application data to prevent tampering
• secure data using Azure Key Vault
• implement encryption for data protection using the data protection APIs in transit and at rest

References:

• Tutorial: Use Azure Key Vault with an Azure web app in .NET
• Get started with the Data Protection APIs in ASP.NET Core

Objectives:

• Secure communication by applying SSL certificates
• require SSL for all requests
• enable SSL hosting in the development environment
• implement SSL using Azure Load Balancers
• salt and hash passwords for storage
• use HTML encoding to prevent cross-site scripting attacks (ANTI-XSS Library)
• implement deferred validation and handle unvalidated requests, for example, form, querystring, and URL
• prevent SQL injection attacks by parameterizing queries
• prevent cross-site request forgeries (XSRF)
• use Azure Security Center to monitor Azure resources
• implement Cross Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
• implement protection against open redirect attacks

References:

• HttpServerUtility.HtmlEncode Method
• Prevent Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) in ASP.NET Core
• Enable Cross-Origin Requests (CORS) in ASP.NET Core