I think the other thing to remember is that this is only the Core exam, and as far as I can tell a fair amount of the content you suggest will be part of the Pro exam. I remember once seeing stirrings of a DBA exam as well, so I guess the Core is just to get your feet wet and show a knowledge of the basics before moving to the higher level exams.
The problem with more complicated exams is that they become difficult to administer and grade automatically. The benefit of MySQL using VUE to administer tests is that the tests can be offered in hundreds of locations around the world thanks to the automated testing process. This means that the lady administering my Core exam didn't have to know MySQL from a cheese sandwich. A more complicated exam means instead of choosing from three convenient testing locations in my city, I have to make an extended trip to a testing location where there will be a professional examiner. This all means more cost to me in both time and money. I think certification exams are a tradeoff. The RedHat Certified Engineer exam is supposed to be practical and hands on (you are asked to install, not how to install), and is supposedly in fair demand in the market, but the tradeoff is that I count maybe 20-30 locations on their website that you can take the exam, at a cost of $749 plus travel to the nearest center. When I check for a MySQL exam center, I see more test centers in California alone that RedHat offers in all of north America, and I pay a lot less for the exam. While the MySQL Core exam may be less challenging than an in-depth hands-on exam, I think the exam is good value for the money. It shows you know the basics without checking the manual and can spot basic syntax problems before running the query. I have to agree that most certification tests are a brain-dump, but hey, most HR people do not have the knowledge to check whether you know what the job descriptions need to know, so you have to have something to show you meet the requirements in a job description. Regards, Mike Hillyer www.vbmysql.com -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Feist [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 12:09 PM To: MySQL List Subject: Re: Practice test Paul DuBois wrote: > At 7:51 -0700 6/10/03, Jeremy Zawodny wrote: > >> "Is this syntax valid in MySQL?" >> >> [some query] >> >> What's the point of such a question? Anyone with access to MySQL can >> find out by simply running the query. > > > You don't have access to MySQL during the test. You have to know > whether or not the syntax is correct. I think the point is that this isn't representative of how effectively we can use MySQL. Yes, the test can measure whether or not we know syntax details, but in a real-life situation that's not a very critical piece of knowlege to have. >> They did ask at least one "what does this query DO" question. I think >> those are much better for a certification exam. > Exactly. Procedural questions, and questions that probe the depth of understanding, are harder to write for such an exam... but much more useful in evaluating how well an individual will perform on the job. Examples might include: 1) How do you set up replication? 2) How are replication conflicts resolved? 3) How do you recover from a disk failure? 4) To what extent can you recover from data changes introduced by a rogue program? 5) What is the impact of the CHECK constraint? 6) You create a HEAP table. The server is brought down, and then up again. You issue a SELECT against the HEAP. What happens? 7) A database table has become corrupt after a power outage. What should you do? 8) Which of the following queries will not benefit from indexes? 9) Which of the following queries corresponds to the following query with a NOT EXISTS subquery? 10) Match the following filenames to their corresponding table structures. And so on. Heck, the commonly asked questions on this list would make a pretty good test! Bruce Feist (retired database instructor / courseware designer) -- MySQL General Mailing List For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- MySQL General Mailing List For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
