I took up a certification Test 141: XML and Related Technologies and came out with flying colors. I am now an IBM certified Solution Developer for XML and related technologies (this is an intermediate level certification).
With regard to my prior experience:
I have worked extensively in XML, XPath and XSLT and have about a year's experience in these technologies. I am also aware of other XML technologies.
The motive behind taking up this certification:
I wanted to! This is my first certification and I thought this would be the perfect one to start off with.
Preparation:
Don't even ask! The last week office work was very hectic and I could not find enough time to prepare for the certification test. I went through the following (in part) in the last week:
* W3 specifications for XML and XML Namespaces.
* Professional XML 2nd edition (some chapters).
* A lot of online references.
* Some sample tests from whizlabs, IBM learning and javaranch.
Score:
76.4% (Passing score is 57%).
Results by section:
| Section |
# Questions |
# Correct |
| 1. Architecture |
10 |
8 |
| 2. Information Modeling |
15 |
11 |
| 3. XML Processing |
18 |
13 |
| 4. XML Rendering |
6 |
4 |
| 5. Testing and Tuning |
6 |
6 |
Suggestions to other candidates:
There are both scenario based questions and questions which ask you about constructs. You need to specially concentrate on XML Schema, DTD, XSLT, XPath, DOM and SAX in addition to XML and XML Namespaces. The others are less important and hardly constitute 10% of the questions. You need to concentrate on the following:
* Difference between parallel technologies – XML Schema and DTD, XSL-FO and CSS, DOM and SAX.
* The BNF of DTD, XML Schema and XML Namespaces would help.
* The interfaces in DOM and SAX.
* XPath (concentrate on working of axes) and XSLT (concentrate on use with other technologies like CSS, XML, XHTML, XSL-FO and scenario based questions).
