Re: AS/400 RPG Certification Test

Charlie,

  First let me assure you that these discussions WILL make it to those
in charge of the tests. I personally will see to that. I have a face to
face with at least one of them in two weeks.

  Since you have taken the test you know that you cannot bring ANYTHING
into the test nor can you take anything out.  Since these tests are
taken at centers that are generally AS/400 clueless, they would have no
manuals available. Would it work for you to have Book Manager with only
the RPG manuals on line on the same PC on which the test is being taken?
I cannot promise this will happen but it is the only way that I can
concieve of that the test could be made 'open book'.  Code samples are
just going to be out of the question.

  As for having to know this or that opcode or DDS SFL keyword, I think
this knowledge is required. The tests are multiple choice so it seems
that if you cannot choose from four or five possibilities your gonna
spend a lot of time in that book.  Besides (outside of the testing
environment) if you don't even know they are there, what's gonna make
you look in the book?  And even if you are cloning (and who doesn't) you
still need to know what most of the keywords that you are using do.

  FYI I tried to code a simple RPG program from scratch the other day at
a customer site with none of my normal 'base programs' (wrong tape
format!) and actually got the specs in the wrong order! I think the last
time I coded any real programs from scratch was about 1984. How else can
you be 90% done in 10% of the time?

  As to SEU et al -v- Code/400 et al.  This is a tough problem.  I
suspec the twinax bias you see is because even though they don't, all
shops can program in SEU.  I still think a majority of shops do not use
GUI tools, am I wrong here?  This makes SEU and friends the lowest
common denominator.  I think the questions were included because just
like any business, a programmer who cannot fully utilize his tools will
not be as effective as he can be.  So test tool knowledge.  Maybe they
tested the wrong tools.

  Larry Bolhuis
  Arbor Solutions, Inc
  Grand Rapids, MI
  lbolhui@ibm.net

  

Charles L. Massoglia wrote:
> 
> Larry et al:
> 
> I don't want to get into another long and involved discussion about problems
> with the RPG test only to have that discussion basically ignored.  However,
> when I took (and passsed) the certification test at COMMON in San Antonio,
> there was one code sample which would not compile.  There was at least one
> and I think two questions where more than one answer was correct because of
> the way the questions were asked.  There were a number of opinionated 
>questions.
> 
> There were also several questions on SEU.  I fail to see how knowing what
> the line commands 'XX' and 'LLP' have to do with an RPG certification.
> Further, if you happen to be working an an advanced shop which does not use
> green screens and uses CODE/400 instead, what do you care about SEU and SDA?
> The test is twinax biased.
> 
> The basic flaw I see with the test is it tests knowledge, not skill.  I
> frankly don't care if you remember the name of the op code which is used to
> find the last non-blank character in a field as long as you know where to
> look up that information.  I don't care whether you know all of the SFL
> keywords in a display file.  You should not be writing the screen or the
> program which drives the screen from scratch - you should be cloning
> instead.  The test would be far more relevant to a true programming
> environment if it were open book.
> 
> Please do not misunderstand what I am saying.  There is no question there is
> value to having the RPG (and other) certification.  My point is if you pass
> the test, you probably have a decent knowledge of RPG.  If you do not pass
> the test, it does not in any way, shape, or manner mean you do not have a
> decent knowledge of RPG.  I know several people who have not passed who I
> would hire in a minute in the $60K+ range.
> 
> As a side note, I tried to schedule an SEU/PDM session at the next COMMON
> which addressed all of the SEU questions which were asked on the
> certification test.  It was not scheduled.
> 
> >  Al, (And other complainers...)
> >
> >  As one who helps write these tests, I must assure you that the
> >questions are NOT written to be tricky.  The primary rule for each
> >question is that the correct answer stands out to the qualified
> >candidate, while all answers appear correct to the unqualified
> >candidate.  As much as possible the answers are written so that none can
> >be eliminated out of hand, thus improving the odds of guessing a correct
> >answer from the remaining ones.
> >
> >  For example we could not ask: 'What is the preferred method of turning
> >off your AS/400?' and have answers like: 'The PWRDWNSYS command, Pull
> >the plug, Turn off the circuit breaker, Press the emergency power off
> >button outside the computer room.'  Nearly everyone with ANY computer or
> >electrical knowledge would rule out the last three answers simply
> >because the word 'Preffered' in the question would rule out those
> >drastic actions. Additionally the first answer is a system command (even
> >if you were AS/400 clueless, it LOOKS like a computer command) and the
> >other three are physical actions.  Correctly formatting all the answers
> >has the effect (to the unqualified candidate) of making no correct
> >answer stand out.
> >
> >  If a question appears tricky, might I suggest the taker did not know
> >the correct answer thus making the question appear to be tricky?
> >
> >  Larry Bolhuis
> >  Arbor Solutions, Inc
> >  lbolhui@ibm.net
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> >
> 
> Charlie Massoglia, Massoglia Technical Consulting, Inc.
> PO Box 1065, Okemos, MI 48854, USA
> 517-676-9700  Fax: 517-676-1006  EMAIL: cmassoglia@voyager.net
> 
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