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Cleared exam with 85% :-):-)

 
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Hello everyone,
Cleared XML exam with 85% .
Here is the split
Architecture - 80%
Information Modelling - 93% (I was getting low scores in teh mock exams)
XML Processing - 88%
XML Rendering - 66% (Scored well in mocks)
Testing and Tuning - 83%
I would like to tahnk everyone in this forum for proviing valudle tips on teh resources. Without this IT WOULD NOT Have been possible to get this score
Apart from teh certification, teh knowledge gained from studying for teh certification is really something aht can be cherished !!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!
Will post prparation time and materials in detail by tommorow !! Got to enjoy teh new year folks !!!
Main objective now is to activley participate in this forum and help XML aspirants!!!
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Hello Everyone,
Here is a detailed description of teh resources, books ..I had used for preparing for teh XML Exam
Previous Experience in XML
---------------------------
Very limited. I had just written deployment descriptors for EJB's and XMl when preparing for SUN's exams.
Preparation Time
----------------
The total time taken was 2 months.
Time for finding resources, hanging out with friends, movies - 1 month
EFFECIENT TIME - One month
2-3 hrs Everyday for 24 days
4-5 hrs for the last 6 days
BOOKS
-----
Three Books
1. Professional XML
Almost covers all parts of exam other than security.
Chapters 2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10, 11, 12, 16, 20, 24
2. Essential XML Quick Reference - Aaron Skonnard (Author), Martin Gudgin Covers all topics except security, XSL-FO, XQUERY
3. Processing XML with Java - Elliotte Rusty Harold
Chapters 6,7,8,9,10,11,12
Covers SAX, DOM - You dont need anyotehr book, tutorial if you go thro this book on these topics!!!
GET THIS BOOK!!!. It is the best book that I have read !!. The book is so interesting and informative. Apart from the certification it is an awsome book to add to your collection!!!
These were the only 3 books that I looked upon.
ONLINE CONTENT
--------------
Other than the books, the online tutorials and sites I referred to were
1. w3schools.org
An introduction to XML concepts including basic syntax, DTD, Schema, Xpath
THIS IS teh best site for XML Schema that I have come upon. In fact I found this equivalent (and more clearer) than XML schema explained in XML Professional and Esential XML
2. IBM Developer works
I refered to these sites for XML Security (teh very basics) and XSL-FO
If you do a search on teh developer web site in IBM, you will come up with these articles
Other good sites for articles and other related contents that I refered to were
Namespaces - http://www.rpbourret.com/xml/NamespacesFAQ.htm
Entities - http://tech.irt.org/articles/js212/#intro
Schema - http://vbxml.com/xml/articles/xsd/default.asp
XSLT - http://perfectxml.com/TipsXSLT.asp
Quizzes and Exams
-----------------
XSLT - perfectxml.com/Quiz/XSLTQuiz.ASP
XML - http://perfectxml.com/Quiz/XMLQuiz.ASP
XML - http://www.witscale.com/test141.html
XML - http://sys-con.com/xml/article.cfm?id=634
This site Gives a NICE explannation of what to really expect in the various sections in the exam and also has some example questions :-)
FULL EXAMS
----------
I Had purchased Whizlabs exam simulator. It REALLY helped a lot in making me ready for what to except in teh real exams!!!. The one thing they missed were the quick tips they generally have with teh otehr exams. But hats off to them for providing such a wonderful exam simulator!!!
BUt the mock exams were quite hard (The software gives you only 1 hr instead of 90 mins ). It really helped in getting myself prepared for teh exams. I didnt score very high on teh exams though I manged to clear them comfortably :-)
THE EXAM
--------
Well teh main exam was not as tougher as I had precieved it to be :-), Bou most of teh questions had ambigous answers(as far as I thought;-)) and during these times I used my common sense and elimination of wrong answers to come up with the right ones
there were no questions about security. 2 questions on SOAP, 2 on UDDI, lots on XSLT (u have to know the exact syntax of teh elemnts for cerating questions ..For Ex. what are teh attributes of teh xsl:variable elemnt ..
Questions on SAX and DOM (5-7) were takeaways :-)
2-4 Questions based on XSL - FO
5-6 questions based on SCHEMA
2 questions on DTD
Otehr questions were on chooosing one technology over teh other !!!
I did have 20 mins to go through my answers (Courtesy of whizlabs ;-))
JAVARANCH
---------
Of course, I came to know about all these resources available through Javaranch :-). Especially thro the wonderful people who had already taken the exams. I am just putting them together. hatts off to them !!
Dont forget to take all the mock exams and quizzes given in the XML certification mock exam link in this forum !!!.
Good luck everyone and thanks Once again :-):-)
I am putting together all teh cheatsheets and otehr notes, questions, hints taht I had prepared for teh exam. I will put them in my website very soon and post the link :-)
have a great year !!!
Thanks
hari
 
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Congrats....
Hey, can u tell me what are the kind of questions that u got relating to XSL:FO. R the Qs based on syntax.
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Hi daisy,
Fortunately the questions were not based on syntax
They were in teh business scenario questions, asking as to choose how to present data to teh client. I think they would have come under reendering. Some of teh questions compared xsl-fo with css also !!!
These were teh questions where I found it difficult ..I would bring down teh choices to 2 and then would find it difficult to choose between them !!
hope this helps !!!
hari
 
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Congrats
 
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Congratulations!!....
You manage to get certified, pretty quick!!
 
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many congratulations
 
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Well Done Hari! Keep it up!
 
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Hi Hari,
Thanx for the info.
U said u purchased Whizlab simulator...I understand that it helped u in keeping ur time..Other than that, did it help u in getting an orientation as to how the Qs are going to be phrased(specially Qs based on business scenarios) in the real exam. Do u feel there is a lot of difference between Whizlabs and the freely available simulators on the web.
Also, r there any Qs on DBMS concepts. If so, what kind of Qs r they....
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Hi daisy,
I dont know of any other simulator other than WHIZLAB for xml ..I dont remember any other simulator being mentioned in the forum other than teh mock exams .. :roll: But I am not sure !!
And YES, the whizlab exams (3 practice, 1 diagnostic and i final) all had a lot of these busines scenario questions and that really helped me get an idea on waht to expect from teh real exam !!!
even if there are other simulators, I am not sure if they would have the business scenario questions. The mock exams I took (other than whizlab) had very few or no business scenario questios
And there were no questions based on dbms concepts. Professional XML does have a chapter relating to it called "Information Modelling". Even if not for the exam, it is a good chapter to go through to see how data is really mapped from databases to XML
Hope this helps . If you have any otehr questions regarding the resources or the exam do let me know.
Good luck for the exam
Hari
 
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Congratulations Hari for your great success! I am glad to know about the contribution by our exam simulator.
It would be great if you could mail us your detailed inputs/review on our product at feedback@whizlabs.com. Our aim is to further increase the success rate (at present 99.7%) of our products.
Best wishes,
Pradeep
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Hi pradeep,
I had already mailed whizlabs my feedback
Only problem was the time for the exam.
The simulator just gives you 60 mins instead of 90 mins :-| for teh mock exams.
Other than that, the product really rocks

- Hari
 
Pradeep Chopra
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Thanks Hari for your valuable feedback! We'll be taking appropriate action on the Test time front very soon.
Looking forward to continuously contributing to your success!
Best wishes,
Pradeep
 
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congratulations!
 
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Thanks for the detailed reply with resources. I think I will go with this one next. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether this XML cert. is still viable or if there are others more marketable?
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Originally posted by Luigi Smith:
Thanks for the detailed reply with resources. I think I will go with this one next. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether this XML cert. is still viable or if there are others more marketable?


XML is used everywhere
be it Micosoft applications or java Applications !!!
I am sure that it is till the best exam available in teh market today !!!
The other certifications in the market are
1. Certiifed XML Engineer from Altova (authors of xmlspy2004)
This is relatively a new exam and the advantage of teh exam is that You alos learn their IDE for XML (XMLSPY2004 - 20% of the exam). More Information can be found at
http://www.altova.com/certification_overview.html
They have their beta exam going on now !!!
2. The "XML Master Basic" and "XMl Master Professional" exam offered by xmlmaster.org. More Information can be found at
http://www.xmlmaster.org/en/certifications.html
Well, having said that , as far as teh content and toughness goes, the IBM certification stands out well among the above two
Its very challenging, Detailed (lots of stuff ), and most of teh questions are scenario based questions.
Thsi means that , it is not just enough if you undersatnd the various xml technlogies and memorize(after understanding ) them, you would also have to know how to implement them !!!
And this , is quite challenging !!!
So, thats my 2 cents on the XML certifications available !!!
Good luck Luigi on the exam !!!
Also, since you already have the Enterprise developer from IBM, I feelone more certification from IBM would be more suitable for you
Hope this helps
[ April 07, 2004: Message edited by: Hari Vignesh Padmanaban ]
 
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Hi Hari,
<< Professional XML
Almost covers all parts of exam other than security.
Chapters 2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10, 11, 12, 16, 20, 24 >>
You meant Profession XML 2nd Edition by WROX Publications or APRESS Publication.
I have a APRESS Publication in hand, wanna confrim whether you meant this book or not.
Please reply ASAP.
Thanks
Sairam
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Its the WROX edition !!!
Good luck for the exam !!!
 
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great score
 
author
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Hello "happyboy",
Would you mind dropping by at My Profile and edit your display name to something compliant after reading the definition from the naming policy?
Thank you, and happy 'ranching
 
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Hi Hari,
I have one Question:
You mentioned that
1. Professional XML
Almost covers all parts of exam other than security.
Chapters 2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10, 11, 12, 16, 20, 24.
I have seen the book Professional XML(2001 Edition).I found only 18th chapters.After that Appendix(A-H).
You mentioned chapter 20,24.Do you mean they are Appendix B and F
Chapter 16 :Case Study 2 --XML and Distributed Applications.
Appendix B :IE5 XML Document Object Model.
Appendix F :CSS Properties.
Please Clarify.
Thanks in Advance.

Praveena
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Originally posted by Praveena Venigalla:
Hi Hari,
I have one Question:
You mentioned that
1. Professional XML
Almost covers all parts of exam other than security.
Chapters 2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10, 11, 12, 16, 20, 24.
I have seen the book Professional XML(2001 Edition).I found only 18th chapters.After that Appendix(A-H).
You mentioned chapter 20,24.Do you mean they are Appendix B and F
Chapter 16 :Case Study 2 --XML and Distributed Applications.
Appendix B :IE5 XML Document Object Model.
Appendix F :CSS Properties.
Please Clarify.
Thanks in Advance.

Praveena



Sorry for the late reply praveena!!!
I have the 2001 edition only. BUT my book has 27 chapters !! No Appendix.
Do you have the second edition of professional XML ?
see if it says "first edition" or second edition"
 
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Question for you Hari..

Your signature says "Author : Whizlab XML simulator"..

and did you cleared XML exam after you wrote the XML simulator ?
and you also had to "Purchase" simulator (which your signature mentions that you wrote...)..
I think we are missing a point somewhere...

Would highly appriciate if you can clear confusion which is there in my head.

Btw thanks a lot for tips..its a big help..

Ashton
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Originally posted by ashton patel:

and did you cleared XML exam after you wrote the XML simulator ?
and you also had to "Purchase" simulator (which your signature mentions that you wrote...)..
I think we are missing a point somewhere...





You are not missing a point anywhere I did not write the exam after i wrote the simulator !!! I purchased the exam simulator from Whizlabs, used it to prepare for the exam and wrote the exam . I wrote the exam 15 montsh back !!!(Dec 31, 2003)

The Simulator that i had used was a great product BUT little btinconsistent with what the IBM exam had proposed for teh XML exam in terms of the sections (Architecture, Information Modelling...) covered!!!

So i was given an opportunity by Whizlabs to revise the product and write it in such a way to help out the students taking the exam
The new product was released somehere in Aug 2004.

And thats how i landed up as the author of the exam Simulator and I think the current version pretty much matches exactly the exam pattern !!!


Btw thanks a lot for tips..its a big help..



Thanks and thats what i really intend to do

And one of the main reasons that WHIZLABS came up with the idea of an XML certification article was to help people preparing for teh XML certifcation !! Part 1 has been released this march and you can expect part 2 very soon 1 and 2 deal with the XML technologis taht u have to know for the exam. part 3 will actually deal more with the exam objectives directly .I hope that teh article will help numerous students who find it difficult (I was one of them )without any sort of book or guide (Thanks for this forum ) to help clear the Exam

The link for the first artcile is :
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/edu/x-dw-x-cert1-i.html

[/QB]
Would highly appriciate if you can clear confusion which is there in my head.
[/QB]



Hope this clears that confusion in your head Cant afford to see anyone with a confused head

HTH
[ April 01, 2005: Message edited by: Hari Vignesh Padmanaban ]
 
ashton patel
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Hey HTH, It helps...

keep up the good work
 
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Wow Wow Wow Wow Wow Wow
 
ashton patel
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Qustion for you Hari.
Which certification to go first

IBM - XML technologies
or SCDJWS certification..

my main purpose to get into XML deep is to learn about webservices..
whats your expert openion on this ?

Ashton
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Originally posted by ashton patel:
Qustion for you Hari.
Which certification to go first

IBM - XML technologies
or SCDJWS certification..

my main purpose to get into XML deep is to learn about webservices..
whats your expert openion on this ?

Ashton


Posted answer in this LINK
[ May 05, 2005: Message edited by: Hari Vignesh Padmanaban ]
 
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Originally posted by Hari Vignesh Padmanaban:
Hello everyone,
Cleared XML exam with 85% .
Here is the split

Architecture - 80%
Information Modelling - 93% (I was getting low scores in teh mock exams)
XML Processing - 88%
XML Rendering - 66% (Scored well in mocks)
Testing and Tuning - 83%

I would like to tahnk everyone in this forum for proviing valudle tips on teh resources. Without this IT WOULD NOT Have been possible to get this score

Apart from teh certification, teh knowledge gained from studying for teh certification is really something aht can be cherished !!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!

Will post prparation time and materials in detail by tommorow !! Got to enjoy teh new year folks !!!

Main objective now is to activley participate in this forum and help XML aspirants!!!



 
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Hi.

One doubt I have about this exam is: "What title do you receive by achieving this certification"? Do we have a "IBM Cert. Solution Developer" certificate?
 
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban
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Originally posted by Rafael Pereira:
Hi.

One doubt I have about this exam is: "What title do you receive by achieving this certification"? Do we have a "IBM Cert. Solution Developer" certificate?



Yes we do

"IBM Cert. Solution Developer , XML and Related technologies"
 
Don't get me started about those stupid light bulbs.
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