Hello all,
First I want to thank the forum members for giving several guidances.
Yes, surely it was a relief for me to clear this certification even though I did not get the marks I expected, but passing is more important I guess.
This certification was conducted in a very broader area where the different thoughts/understanding/nature can trigger various kinds of results which can be debated for a very long time, but this still remains a very interesting area to me.
About the Certification:
* The certification first contains a lot of diagrams, as several members commented before the prometric screens should be made better.
* There are around 50-60% questions with exhibits.
* For some questions there were more than one diagram for reference.
* The number of questions asked as per the requirements given by IBM are given below
Section 1 - Development Process = 12%
Section 2 - Requirements Modeling = 18%
Section 3 - Architecture = 12%
Section 4 - Static Modeling = 22%
Section 5 - Dynamic Modeling = 24%
Section 6 - Design & Implementation Techniques = 12%
So as you see the more questions are from Dynamic modeling.
* There was one question asked for CRC
cards.
* There were 2 questions asked on Refactoring.
* There are also questions which were straight forward, like what diagram should be changed for a scenario. ( questions more or less similar to asked in the IBM mock exam)
* Some of the diagrams repeat in the exam.
* Make sure you are able to identify various classes that can be placed suitably in a interaction diagram.
* There were 2 questions (if I remember correct) which had your knowledge tested on deployment diagrams.
Exhibits:
* There were use cases (both textual and diagrammatical), class diagrams (make sure you are used to seeing huge diagrams in a small screen), sequence diagrams, no package diagrams, no collaboration diagrams, no component diagrams, no deployment diagram.
* Make sure you understand the parts of the Class & Sequence diagram very very well.
* Do not miss the grouping of classes, how it can be done.
Maximum 3 choice questions, and I was always specified how much correct answers to choose.
* Do not miss knowing about how navigation affects the understanding of your relation to class associations. I was bit confused with this when it came to a real life scenario.
My Preparation:
* Fowler book very well, at least 5 times.
* Larman book very well, at least 3-4 times.
* Object Oriented Design Heuristics by Arthur.J.Riel (a very good book)
* UML in a Nutshell
* Applying Use Cases by Geri Schneider and Jason.P.Winters
Recommendation:
* "It is not enough if you know generalization is represented using a certain symbol, but how to use it is the KEY to exam."
(or)
* Make sure you learn things by applying it in a real life solution, do not read it as A & B, but learn how/where/why we can use the A & B.
* Do not miss the Fowler and Larman book, they contain a lot of input to this certification exam.
* Go with a fresh, non-tensed mind as you are made to think a significant amount in the exam.
Timing:
* I was able to get through all the questions in the exam the first swipe with 45-50 minutes left.
* Time is surely a very high criteria to be considered for this exam as MOST of the questions are
testing your knowledge on how you apply it to a real life scenario.
Hope I had given my best input to the members about my experience with this certification. I will do my best to answer any questions you may have about this certification. Please do post your questions in this message and I will try to answer my best.
I wish you all success and peace in life. I once again thank the various members of the forum for helping me out in various ways.
Thanks
Ramakrishnan Seshadri
[ February 11, 2002: Message edited by: Ramakrishnan Seshadri ]
