Theo Galanakis wrote:
Thanks everyone for all your input, appreciated! I think the comment from Scott about benchmarking is a compelling point to getting the certification.
Every now and then, in my rare moments i sometimes do that "actually make a point" that is ;)
However the accreditation will only mean that you have a very good understanding of how the tags, functions and overall structure of CFMX work and does not necessarily mean you are a competent programmer who understands good programming concepts and is an analytical problem solver.
Well yeah of course, determining if someone is a good programmer is a hard thing in itself to do sometimes.
Personally over the years I have interviewed a lot of developers and it still amazes me how many try and pass themselves off as a CF programmer simply because they once read a book on the language. Understanding the Tags, Methods and basic logic that which is Coldfusion MX today, is by far an under rated achievement. I say this as I see a lot of people use Tags in very wrong ways. One such example came to mind where someone did this whacked method of using a .ini file to basically store localized data on a HDD, he proceeded to basically setup this long-winded script to basically read and data bind the parameters to some CF code. I later asked him why he chose that process, and it was simply because he wanted to store the data in a flat file.
I pointed out that CFWDDX tag to him, he was amazed and somewhat embarrassed and was able to reduce a lot of un-needed code.
Now this is a small illustration at times on how many people may be competent programmer in their own right, but even someone with brains who doesn't know the full tag library and structure of CFMX can come off the wrong end.
Point is, understanding the CFMX language TEXT-BOOK style first is half the battle, as even if they are semi-competent programmer in theory, that can be taught over a period with minimal effort. Having to teach someone the actual language and what the difference between cfoutput and cfloop are, well that just becomes cumbersome. That is where Certifications play a strong role, as its accreditation which states "they know the difference between cloop / cfoutput".
Teaching someone how to use that effectively, well thats not so much of a burden imho. (This goes with any trade, apprentice must know how to use his/her tools before the embark on the journy of wisdom in such trade).
I ramble. This was a good conversation. (folks who saw "Last Samurai" will get a kick out of that last remark).
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Regards, Scott Barnes - http://www.mossyblog.com http://www.bestrates.com.au
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Scott Barnes Sent: Thursday, 27 May 2004 3:01 PM To: CFAussie Mailing List Subject: [cfaussie] Re: CFMX Certification.
I work with two code monkeys here who have both sat the exam. They got both got Advanced status and have both said that the certification will trick you on certain code etc. Not sure of the merits of the actual certification, but if you were able to get an Advanced Status in CFMX, I'd respect you more. Mind you having my respect isn't exactly a worthwhile achievement.
I was going to sit it, but took the easy opt out and did the Flash Certification, hey it worked at the time. I plan to take the exam this year though, mainly for personal testing reasons.
If i were an employer and you didn't have certification and you were up against someone with certification, personally it'd weigh up reasons why and probably choose that person as they have been benchmarked.
P.S I'll be in on that study group i guess.
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MXDU2004 + Macromedia DevCon AsiaPac + Sydney, Australia http://www.mxdu.com/ + 24-25 February, 2004
