List of MySQL Certified Candidates -- Update

The list of MySQL Certified Candidates will pass into history at the end of November. The data was moved into Sun's system last July and what remains on the MySQL certification list is not aging well.

The Sun Certmanager has most of the same features but does not let us pull records for display on a web page. You can still get verification of your credentials for a third part, such as a job interview or customer, but it now requires having an email sent to the third party with the information on how they can view the information.

We will live the old information up for the coming month for those of you who wish to double check your data in the Sun system.

On behalf of the MySQL Certification Team, both past and present, we have enjoyed watching the list expand over time. It was a very valuable tool with many uses but sadly it now goes into history. And thank you to all of you listed there.

Want to know how Yahoo does their capacity planning?

Every wonder how Google plans for growth? Well, if you are in the Dallas / Fort Worth area on Monday, November 2nd you can find out exactly how they do it!

Strategic MySQL Planning for Complexity & Growth (i.e. MySQL Scaling for Dummies) will be presented by Tommy Falgout at the North Texas MySQL Users Group Meeting

Sometimes a data driven website is a simple matter. Sometimes it only starts out that way. Membership records can grow from dozens to hundreds to thousands (or more). Performance or historic logs can grow astronomically. The ongoing need to coordinate different sets of data can lead to outrageously complex schema and duplicate data. How can you avoid those troubles? There are ways. Tommy Falgout will talk about designing your database for growth and performance before those challenges become bottlenecks on your website.

Reference:
http://dallasphp.org/html/Topics.htm?article_id=178

The next meeting of the North Texas MySQL Users group will be Monday, November 2nd at 7:00 PM (Daylight savings time change on Sunday the 1st).

Tommy Falgout is a Sr. Application Developer at Yahoo! He started his journey at Y! with a background in PHP & MySQL. Since then he has expanded his horizon by becoming a certified MySQL DBA, managing the Yahoo! Live Flash Video architecture, dabbling in Oracle, MSSQL, Java, Flash, Flex and the occasional Perl when noone's looking. He welcomes challenges, questions and not afraid to admit he owns a scooter. On the side, he is actively trying to get rid of 1000+ rubber duckies, left at his house from a prank, at duckiehunt.com.

The previously scheduled presentation will be on making good queries with JOINS, subqueries, and UNIONs will be moved to December. If you want to learn how to get your data from your database faster, more efficiently, and easier then this is the session for you.

We meet in the Sun offices, Suite 700, 16000 Dallas Tollway. All are welcome, beginners encouraged to attend!

Saying goodbye to the old certification lists, part 2

I did not mean to stir up a hornets nest!

I received a lot of feedback on the last blog entry on shutting down the old MySQL system and that included the lists of certified candidates. Yes, I know how valuable these lists are. But you might want to check this out ORACLE UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES CERTVIEW. I will see if I can get some details the next time we speak to the fine Oracle Certification folks.

The certification industry have started initiatives like the ITCC to allow you to have your certifications listed for viewing by a potential employers or the world at large. So do not worry that we are taking some draconian action and the knowledge of your accomplishments is being shoved into the great bit bucket in the sky. We just need a little time to transition from system to system (to system).

And feel free to ping us for updates at Certification@MySQL.com or by commenting below.

Saying goodbye to the list of Certified MySQL Users

The MySQL Certification: Listing of MySQL Certified Users has been a valuable resource for many years. I have a small stack of emails from people who were recruited for jobs after someone spotted their names on the lists. But the lists are going away.

The vast majority of MySQL Certification information is now part of Sun's certification system and has been since the end of July. Prometric exam results feed into that system and not the MySQL system. The lists of certified users pulls from the now out of date MySQL system. That means the data from the listings are not up to date. There is no easy way to cross-tie the information from Sun's systems into the MySQL web system. So please spread the word that the lists are going away, most likely by the end of the calendar year.