> >>if you were to really call yourself a proffesional then you would no the
> commands anyway<<
>
> And I would disagree heavily. I program actively* in six languages, I
always
> keep a function reference close at hand so I can check function arguments
> and parameters. There's no way I can memorize every parameter of every
> function in all of those languages.
I have to agree with Mike here. I work primarily with CF (mostly 4.01 but a
little bit of version 3 code as well), Javascript, and a little bit of Java.
Between those three languages (including multiple versions and/or platforms
of each) I have a hard time memorizing the exact paramter lists and which
functions are available for each.
I hardly think that needing to *quickly* refer to a reference for the
parameter definitions of an infrequently used function or tag should cause
someone to fail the certification test. I've been writing CF for 2 years,
and I've done some decently impressive things. In spite of that I couldn't
recite, from memory, the parameters for CFTREE, CFUPDATE, CFFTP, CFPOP, etc
if my life depended on it. I know they EXIST, I know WHAT they do, and I
know WHERE to find their documentation if I need it. I just don't have them
memorized. Does this mean that I'm a poor programmer? I like to think that
it doesn't <g>.
IMHO, the value of a certification is based directly on how well the exam
tests an applicant's ability to function in a typical, real life situation.
I don't write code locked in a hot room, with no references, and a stopwatch
ticking, so why should I be tested that way? I took a number of tests in
both high school and college that were structured to allow us students to
use the class text and notes during the exam. The idea was that if a
student didn't already know how to do a problem, having the book there
wouldn't really help that much given the time constraints and question
design. However, a student that knew the proper approach to use to solve
the question would be able to quickly find needed information (formulas,
terms, etc) that they needed. It seems to me that ANY programming language
certification exam should be somewhat similar.
Seth Petry-Johnson
Argo Enterprise and Associates
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