Ken's hit the nail on the head (in terms of cert prep), and to be clear, the official Adobe CF classes (Fast Track and Advanced) are NOT intended to be cert prep classes at all. As Aaron said though, they should likely get you close to passing. The Forta study guide book is highly recommended, but note that it was NOT updated for CF8, so it's not a perfect substitute.
As for the Exam Buster software, I know some are averse to paying for anything, but for its low cost ($40) it's an incredibly thorough preparation tool. I was amazed by it myself, when I used it to get my CF7 cert a few years ago. It had hundreds of questions that really did approximate the real questions. I had been certified for 4, 5, and 6, so I had a sense of what to expect in general. It really did get me "back in the game" of preparing for taking the exam. Can't recommend it enough, especially since it's been updated for CF8. But there's still no substitute for knowing things. The books (any of them, really) are the best way to become informed, but of course that takes time, and indeed that's part of the point of certification. Not to demonstrate that you know how to cram for and pass an exam, but that you really do know CF. (I really hope those who are tempted to jump in and open a debate about the value of certs will please let it go. There's really nothing new to be said. Those who want to get certified simply want to. Please let them. No need to deride their choice or decry the values of certs, and so on. The point has been made many, many times on many CF lists, blogs, etc. Anyone concerned to hear the debate can google "value of coldfusion certification" and hear the many opinions. Not trying to be list cop. Just trying to temper what seems to be a sore subject for many.) /charlie From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ken Auenson, II Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 10:20 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [houcfug] Re: Coldfusion Classes or Courses Adrian, When I took the certification test, I studied using the CF8 Exam Buster software, which is like practice tests that explain all the answers and have links to more information on questions you don't fully understand. The practice tests were pretty close to the real thing. http://centrasoft.com/cfmxexambusterorderinfo.cfm I also used Ben Forta's ColdFusion MX developer study guide to study up on portions of the language I am not completely familiar with. http://www.amazon.com/Certified-Macromedia-ColdFusion-Developer-Study/dp/032 1180585 Adobe does offer instructor-led training courses, and there are a few companies in the area who do those trainings: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/partnerportal/index.cfm?event=partnerfinder <http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/partnerportal/index.cfm?event=partnerfinder&lo c=en_us&tpn=1&tsortby=3&tsortorder=1&trn_advnc_on=false&showtab=training&trn _adobe_product=ADOBE_COLDFUSION&trn_country=US&trn_stateprovince=TX&trn_comp anyname=&buttonSearch=> &loc=en_us&tpn=1&tsortby=3&tsortorder=1&trn_advnc_on=false&showtab=training& trn_adobe_product=ADOBE_COLDFUSION&trn_country=US&trn_stateprovince=TX&trn_c ompanyname=&buttonSearch= >From glancing at their websites, it seems the only one in Houston that has scheduled ColdFusion training classes is Lodestone Digital http://www.lodestone.com/training/coldfusion_training.cfm?CourseId=7 I have taken one of the Adobe instructor-led trainings for Flex, and I got a lot out of it. I have friends who have taken the intro CF training course and they felt that they would have gotten the same information by reading through a book like O'Reilly's Programming ColdFusion MX, which is my favorite CF book... The advanced CF courses may be worth taking, though. Good luck, and I hope this helps! -- Ken Auenson On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 6:46 PM, Adrian (PsyVilla.com) <[email protected]> wrote: I would like to take some coldfusion courses in order to work towards a certification. Do you know of any courses in the city of Houston on coldfusion? I have been looking around and it seems like everything is online courses. Thank you for your time. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Houston ColdFusion Users' Group" discussion list. To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit http://groups.google.com/group/houcfug?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
