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IBM Exam 486 UML and OOAD

 
Greenhorn
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I tried this exam once just to see what it was all about and I almost passed. I have attended Rational's OOAD course (not the best) and studied UML Distilled, and The Unified Modeling Language User Guide By: Boock, Jacobsen, Rumbaugh.
The exam is difficult, in that it has some very unclear questions and in my opinion, some very opinionated questions that have to do with Prj. Man. style and not OOAD.
Example:
2)
When using OOAD artifacts to organize and assign team responsibilities on a project, it is BEST to:

a) evenly distribute use cases among team members and have them work as independently as possible in order to minimize code dependencies

b) designate one team for implementing interaction diagrams related to the "common code path" and another team for implementing interaction diagrams related to "code path variations" (for example ? conditional or error paths)

c) divide teams according to the layers in the software architecture and have them work as independently as possible in order to minimize dependencies between the layers}

d) divide teams according to package diagram dependencies and utilize use cases to schedule the work for the individual team members

and other weird questions like the following which is a matter of a whole lot more than they give in the question, so it makes the answer a bit ambiguous to me:
23)
A non-object oriented legacy application which interacts with back end systems exists. It is now required to redesign this application into an object oriented system, that caters to high volume of requests. Which of the following need to be considered while modeling the system?

a) It is not necessary to define classes, such that they represent the data fields in the back end. The object model should capture the behavior of the legacy system.

b) The object model should consist of classes which match the back end data fields. This aids the persistence of classes.

c) Draw activity diagrams to understand the behavior of the existing legacy system.

d) The GUI client objects need to be behavioral driven and they directly communicate with the database.

Any help with these and/or other questions would be appreciated.
P.S. If you can pass the IBM pre-assessment with a 75% score they will send you a free coupon to take the test for real. You only need 69% or better on the exam to pass for real. see www.ibm.com/certify
Lastly, I think we need a forum on this web site that contains resources for all of the JCert initiative exams and topics.
Again, any help or links to solutions to the practice questions is greatly appreciated.
-Andrew

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Andrew: I agree that name of the exam might be a bit misleading. Check the objectives and try the recommended readings (it helped me a lot).
 
Michal Harezlak
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Here is couple of thoughts on your questions.
Example 2:
It makes most sense to assign teams (depending on the granulation) according to the packages/layers. That is where the strongest dependencies are. Whole process is use case driven so the answer d, seems to be accurate.
Example 23:
a,c sound reasonable to me. Activity diagrams will help you box and understand the behavior of the system. (b) And designing the classes by mapping the back end data fields would be crating data classes with no regards for the behavioral side of the problem. d goes against architectural rules of layering and partitioning the design.


[This message has been edited by Michal Harezlak (edited December 19, 2000).]
 
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Hi,
I do agree on having a forum for Jcert, can anyb one please suggest some GOOD book on UML? I am new to it.
Thanks
Saumil
 
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A good introduction is UML Distilled by Martin Fowler.
Remember - If you purchase this book via JavaRanch you'll help keep the lights on in the barn and the cows in the coop! Or something like that...
John
 
Andrew Brodie
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Hi all, I just finished the UML IBM 486 exam, did quite well. I took a $2000+ Rational course to prepare (Note: don't waste your money). What I found useful for those of you who are interested is:
UML Distilled (Fowler) - particularly on the developement process and dynamic modeling aspects. Some questions had the appearance of even being targeted at those who had read this book.
Applying UML and Patterns (Larman) - general understanding of the OOAD process and how to map it into a set of UML artifacts. Since the exam is really an exam on OOAD (modeled in UML) this is a must read, even if it is a little simplified. NOTE: The exam is very easy from a UML standpoint, it does not get into really specific detailed UML diagrams rather it sincerely tests your OOAD knowledge using the BASICS of UML to convey the message.
IBM Web site - has a link to where you can take a mock of the exam. The questions are different however this will give you as close to an exact feel for the content and presentation as I have ever seen. (80% on the mock and you'll pass!)
Good luck y'all!
 
With a little knowledge, a cast iron skillet is non-stick and lasts a lifetime.
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