Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Certified MySQL Associate

There was a lot of confusion at the recent MySQL Users Conference about the Associate exam. One recovering Oracle DBA took the test after a little persuasion (and two months of MySQL use) and was surprised how much they knew. The Associate or CMA is designed for those new to MySQL and have some hands-on experience.

The best way to prepare for the Certified MySQL Associate exams is to take part in the MySQL for Beginners training course offered by MySQL AB. It is also possible to prepare for the certified MySQL Associate exam through self-study. Candidates that choose to prepare themselves through self-study should consider purchasing the MySQL 5.0 Certification Study Guide.

The material on the exam is an overview of the basics. 25% of the exam is on basic data manipulation using SQL -- adding, updating and deleting data. Another 25% is on creating tables and indexes. Grouping and joining make up another 20%. The last 30% is on terminology, transactions, and export/import.

So if you have created a database, entered data, changed some of that data, and have retrieved that data with a 'WHERE' and a 'GROUP BY' then you are most of the way there.

9 comments:

Sheeri K. Cabral said...

By the way -- some may think this equates to "take the course, pass the test." And the response to that is "yes and no" -- because you do learn valuable information in the course, and the course covers what's on the test. But by no means is it completely easy all the time. The MySQL courses (and certifications) make you THINK.

Anonymous said...

Hi
Can you tell me what questions you had on the exam ?

abo_shreek11@hotmail.com

Thank You

Dave Stokes said...

For the exam materials please see: http://www.mysql.com/certification/candguide.html#t22

Okie said...

I have a question about test format...

Is this a sort of "multiple choice" or "short answer" test where questions are asked and you're required to come up with a response that appropriately defines the terminology, usage, structure, etc?

Or is it more of a "real world" test where you're asked to create Queries and/or SQL commands to do particular things?

I ask because, generally speaking, after taking the beginner MySQL course, I can maneuver my way around the MySQL databases here at work and run queries and find/manipulate what I'm looking for. However, I definitely don't have a perfect grasp of the terminology/etc from the textbook included in the course.

I'd like to take the test...just curious about which way to direct my study.

Thanks. :)

Dave Stokes said...

It is all multiple choice.

Okie said...

Thanks. Good to know. :)

Anonymous said...

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http://programmerspoint.com/

Anonymous said...

Hi Dave,

I have noticed some forms of accreditation (such as A+ and N+) now have time-outs so they cease to be recognised after 3 years or so. Is this the case with SQL certification such as MySQL Associate?

Dave Stokes said...

Hi Anonymous -- no, the MySQL do not expire.