Hmm, so I now have 7.3, 8.0, 9i and 9i DBA certification. Does that mean
you wouldn't consider me for a job? Dang! ;)
--
HTH. Additions and corrections welcome.
Pete
Author of "Oracle8i: Architecture and Administration Exam Cram"
"Controlling developers is like herding cats."
Kevin Loney, Oracle DBA Handbook
"Oh no, it's not. It's much harder than that!"
Bruce Pihlamae, long-term Oracle DBA
"Daniel A. Morgan" <damorgan_at_exesolutions.com> wrote in message
news:3C4FEEFE.549F5E69_at_exesolutions.com...
> Thank you for your answer, your honesty, and your integrity.
>
> A few points ...
>
> First the statements we have found incorrect are incorrect going back to
8i: Not
> just in 9i. In some cases incorrect going back to 7.3.4.
>
> Second no person should fail an OCP exam because they gave the correct
answer to
> a question and Oracle messed up.
>
> Third, as those that follow this usenet group know, I have no respect for
> certifications because it has been my experience that those that have them
know
> how to memorize and pass tests ... not do the job. This just adds to my
reasons
> not to consider certifications when hiring employees and contractors.
>
> Daniel Morgan
>
>
>
>
>
> Pete Sharman wrote:
>
> > I don't think any of us Oracle folks that monitor this group are
> > particularly qualified to answer, in that none of us work for the
> > Certification group. However, having been through this mill a couple of
> > times with another publisher (not Oracle Press), there are a couple of
> > comments I would make as my personal viewpoint (select
standard_disclaimer
> > from company_requirements).
> >
> > Firstly, the certification process and the Oracle Press books need to
walk a
> > very fine line.. They carry the name of Oracle but still must strive to
be
> > seen to be impartial and unbiased for the certification to have any
weight.
> > To that end, you'll find the Oracle Press books may be written by
someone
> > who is not an Oracle employee. In this case, for example, I can't find
> > Jason in our employee database. The writing of the book would therefore
> > seem to be totally out of Oracle's control, even though there must be
some
> > form of relationship between Oracle and Osborne (if memory serves me
> > correctly, this is who actually publishes the Oracle Press books).
> >
> > Secondly, as an author of an exam cram myself let me tell you I found it
> > damn difficult sometimes to write the book in the way needed for the
reader
> > to pass the exam. WHen you're writing a book on how to pass an OCP
exam,
> > the paramount thing for you to remember is that you are writing the book
to
> > assist the reader in passing the exam, NOT to assist in making them a
DBA
> > (for example). Let me give you an example from when I wrote the 8i
> > Architecture and Administration exam cram. That particular OCP exam
(and I
> > suppose the others as well though I can't be definitive about that) was
> > written based on the course material for the matching Oracle University
> > course. In that course, it said that the database buffer cache is aged
> > based on an LRU algorithm. As we probably all know, that is in fact not
> > correct. It's based on a touch count algorithm. However, I had to
write
> > the book based on the answers that were expected by the exam EVEN IF
THEY
> > WERE WRONG.
> >
> > As a final comment, let me say that when a new version of a book comes
out
> > that is based on the previous version (as it probably was in this case),
the
> > author generally starts with the material from the previous version of
the
> > book and then modifies it as necessary. Sometimes things that have
changed
> > are not picked up, even though this is one of the prime responsibilities
of
> > the author and to a certain extent the technical reviewer. With the
books
> > that I was the technical reviewer for before writing my own, one of my
> > responsibilities was to execute each and every piece of code to make
sure it
> > worked. Obviously, some things just slipped through the cracks in the
book
> > we're discussing here.
> >
> > Remember, all opinions here are mine and do not necessarily reflect
those of
> > Oracle!!!
> >
> > --
> > HTH. Additions and corrections welcome.
> >
> > Pete
> > Author of "Oracle8i: Architecture and Administration Exam Cram"
> >
> > "Controlling developers is like herding cats."
> > Kevin Loney, Oracle DBA Handbook
> >
> > "Oh no, it's not. It's much harder than that!"
> > Bruce Pihlamae, long-term Oracle DBA
> >
> > "Daniel A. Morgan" <damorgan_at_exesolutions.com> wrote in message
> > news:3C4EB325.FE648C2_at_exesolutions.com...
> > > Anyone from Oracle care to comment?
> > >
> > > In some cases the problem with the book is that it doesn't reflect
working
> > reality.
> > > But in other cases it is 100% incorrect such as stating that you can
not
> > do an ORDER
> > > BY on a view.
> > >
> > > Dan Morgan
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Patrick Meyer wrote:
> > >
> > > > I think a better question is 'Are these answers wrong on the OCP
test?'
> > > > I haven't yet taken the OCP tests, but I will soon.
> > > > I ask this question because of some MicroSoft certification classes
I
> > > > took a number of years ago. The instructor made the point
> > > > a couple of times that there is the MicroSoft way, as stated in the
> > > > doc's, and there was the real way. He hammered home the
> > > > point that the Certification tests were only concerned with the
> > > > MicroSoft way and that if you answered the questions based on
> > > > experience in the real world, you would likely get the question
wrong.
> > > > I wonder which is the case here. Just because something
> > > > works in the real world, doesn't mean that is the Oracle recommended
> > > > way. It could be the case that the tests only consider the
> > > > Oracle recommended way.
> > > >
> > > > Just my 2 cents.
> > > >
> > > > Later ....
> > > >
> > > > Patrick
> > > >
> > > > "Daniel A. Morgan" <damorgan_at_exesolutions.com> wrote in message
> > > > news:3C4E8AF7.9D44EF8D_at_exesolutions.com...
> > > >
> > > > > Thanks for your comments. I went over these with my students at
the
> > University
> > > > > last night and they found it very disturbing that a book marketing
> > under the
> > > > > auspices of Oracle and used for an OCP test could have such
obvious
> > errors. It
> > > > > definitely makes one wonder who got paid for editing ... and why.
I
> > think an
> > > > > apology is owed by both the author and the publisher. But as you
say
> > ... it also
> > > > > makes one wonder whether you could fail the test based on the fact
> > that your
> > > > > answers were correct and theirs are wrong.
> > > > >
> > > > > Daniel Morgan
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG
> > >
>
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