Date post: | 14-Jul-2015 |
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How to prepare for the IEEE SE cer0fica0on exams?
Ganesh Samarthyam (CSDA, CSDP, SECI)
IEEE SE cer0fica0ons overview
Meant for students gradua0ng from colleges
For soJware professionals with 2+ years of experience
For soJware professionals with 4+ years of experience
Cer0fied SoJware Development Professional
Cer0fied SoJware Development Associate
SECI SoJware Engineering Cer0fied Instructor
For providing training for SCP/CSDA/CSDP cer0fica0ons
Exam prepara0on overview
• IEEE’s CSDA and CSDP exams cover a wide range of topics
• Prepara0on is important to crack the exam – Go through the study material – Take mock-‐exams – Read relevant books
• Follow best-‐prac0ces when taking the exam
Two things key to pass the exam!
• Read, read, read (go through the relevant books and study material)
• Prac0ce, prac0ce, prac0ce (by trying to answer mock exam ques0ons)
Go through the study-‐material
• Read the presenta0on slides – Not just for your exam, but all the slides from SCP, CSDA, and CSDP
– Disadvantage: Most slides not self-‐explanatory
• Read the CSDA Learning System material – Excellent material – quite detailed with lots of examples and illustra0ons
– Disadvantage: Does not cover sample ques0ons
Prepare by answering mock ques0ons
• Try the CSDA and CSDP mock exam ques0ons – One set for CSDA and two sets of CSDP ques0ons available
• Try answering the ques0ons in “Real-‐world SW problems” book – Disadvantage: Bit out-‐dated (came out in 2002); does not cover all KAs
SWEBOK v3 is a must to read • The exams are based on the knowledge condensed in SWEBOK, so it is naturally a must to read! – Read v3 (2014 version) which supersedes v2 (2004 version)
• PDF available for free: www.computer.org/portal/web/swebok/v3guide
Thayer & Dorfman’s prepara0on books
• Three volumes of Richard Thayer’s books (fourth edi0on) covers all the 15 KAs in considerable detail – Reasonably sufficient for self-‐prepara0on
Thayer & Dorfman’s prepara0on books
Other SE books
• You can read standard SE books by Ian Sommerville, Roger Pressman, or Hans van Vliet – Disadvantage: They don’t cover all KAs; also they cover “extra” topics irrelevant from IEEE cer0fica0on exam perspec0ve
Other SE books
Other op0ons for prepara0on
• IEEE’s e-‐learning courses for CSDA and CSDP (costs $445 each for IEEE non-‐members)
• IEEE “essen0al sets” PDF for the following KAs: SoJware design, construc0on, and tes0ng
• Richard H. Thayer’s exam prepara0on CD (costs $99) – Disadvantage: Does not cover “founda0ons” module
Training programs by REPs
• IEEE Registered Educa0onal Providers (REPs) provide training for IEEE cer0fica0ons – Check the REPs directly for such trainings – List of REPs available here
Which topics to focus on?
• Example: If you are a developer, you may not know much about SW Engineering Management, SCM, or Economics
Focus more on topics that you are not familiar with
• Example: “Mathema0cal founda0ons” is difficult to most candidates
Focus more on “difficult” topics
• Example: “SoJware requirements” and “soJware design” topics have higher weigh in CSDP (but compara0vely less in SCP)
Focus more on topics that have
higher weight for the exam
Tips on taking the exam
• Do not spend “too much” 0me on few ques0ons – Ques0ons involving calcula0ons may take more 0me than theory ques0ons • Example: Ques0on on making a decision based on Minimum Aorac0ve Rate of Return (MARR) may take 3 to 5 minutes if MARR needs to be calculated
– Mark these ques0ons and revisit them aJer compe0ng the rest of the ques0ons • The exam soJware provides you this op0on to “mark” ques0ons
Tips on taking the exam
• Do not select an op0on because your calcula0on or solu0on shows that result! – OJen, wrong solu0ons will also be listed as an answer
• Some ques0ons may refer to relevant standards – that does not mean you should know the standards by heart – Important to know the standards, you should be able to answer the ques0on without having any deep knowledge of the relevant standard (my observa0on is based on experience)
Tips on taking the exam
• It helps to revise important formulae, tables, etc before the exam (especially in “founda0ons” module but others as well).
• Next few slides cover these examples just for you to understanding on what kinds of things to look out for revision just before the exam
Example 1: SoJware maintenance categories
Example 2: Boolean algebra iden00es
Example 3: Risk Priority Number (in FMEA)
RPN = Probability * Detec0on * Severity (each of these three components can be assigned with values ranging
from 1 to 10)
Probability Frequency of the failure to occur
Detec0on Likelihood that the system controls can detect and eliminate the failure
Severity Damage that the failure can cause
My experience taking the exam
• Started prepara0on 4 months before taking the exams – Read for 30 minutes each working day
• Aoempted sample CSDA and CSDP ques0ons from IEEE cer0fica0ons site – Performed poorly in the sample exams (approx. 65% score in both)
• Aoended CSDA and CSDP training courses • First passed CSDA and then CSDP (both in 2009)
How I prepared for the exam
• Read the CSDA and CSDP training material slides – Found that they were not self-‐explanatory
• Prepared by reading the following: – SWEBOK v2 (read all the chapter contents) – Ian Sommerville’s SoJware Engineering book (read only the chapters relevant for the exam)
– Read CSDA Learning System material (was really good) – Took CSDA and CSDP online prepara0on exam
• Found that CSDA material to be good but CSDP not so good
Retrospec0ve: I wish I had read the following
• “Real-‐world soJware engineering problems” book
• Richard H. Thayer’s exam prepara0on books on SoJware Engineering
Summary
• Reading relevant books and taking mock exams is an absolute must
Important to read and prac0ce before taking the exam
• Must read: SWEBOK v3 and Thayer & Dorfman’s exam prepara0on books
There are excellent resources available for exam prepara0on
• Read the ques0ons carefully, do not spend “too-‐much” 0me on few ques0ons, ….
Follow best-‐prac0ces when taking the
exam
All the best!