Thanks Steve. I've seen that

elliot — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 07:00:35 -0500

Thanks Steve. I've seen that before, but I'd forgotten the name of it.

Cheers Serge, very useful.

elliot — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 07:00:03 -0500

Cheers Serge, very useful.

SQL tests

Serge — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 06:14:50 -0500

For SQL, try tests and certification at SQL Exercises.

python challenge

SteveA — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 05:21:52 -0500

The Python Challenge is a very entertaining way to brush up your Python skills.

http://www.pythonchallenge.com/

External validation of programming skill

elliot — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 06:18:04 -0500

We've had some bad news here over the past week or so: OpenAdvantage will go under wraps at the end of September. No money is available for the project to continue, so, consequently, we're all job hunting. This has resulted in a lot of soul-searching for me, an urge to hone my skills, and a need to work out what I'm really capable of. I started looking around on the web for self-tests I could use to determine my skill level and find out where I'm rusty. Like many open source types, I can turn my hand to pretty much anything, but have few certificates to prove it. The training courses for Linux certification, MySQL, etc. are very expensive and time-consuming; I was looking for something cheap and quick, to provide a rough indicator of my skill level. Here are a few resources I found useful:

JavaBat is a series of free, online Java practice problems. They are pretty simple, but very useful for reminding me of some parts of Java I'd otherwise ignore.
oDesk is a marketplace for remote workers. You can put your profile up there, bid for jobs, search for work, build teams, post jobs etc., all from the comfort of your web browser. The reason I like it is that they have a series of free tests you can take, which you can use to get some proof of your skills. Given that there are around 18,000 contractors on there, a potential employer can get an idea of where your skills sit within that pool. For example, I scored 3.6 out of 5 on the Ruby on Rails test, putting me at rank 15 in the pool of 83 people who've taken the test (of which 49 passed). You can see my profile here.
BrainBench is another US company providing some online tests for free, and lots more if you pay. My public transcript demonstrates I'm a bit rusty on Java, but better than I thought on Apache (3.99 out of 5, in the top 14% of test takers). Perhaps I should be an Apache administrator... You can also add your BrainBench certifications to oDesk, which is pretty nifty.
Transcender provides a range of free Microsoft (gasp! shock! horror!) tests for download, to practice for the MCSE exams. I'd always been intrigued by this qualification, and wanted to find out how whether it was actually difficult, so I did a few of the tests. I tried the one on .NET (bearing in mind I've never written more than about 6 lines of it), and I managed 40% on a multiple-choice test. Even more astonishing was that I scored 60% on the SQL Server test, and have hardly used it (though I did do a SQL Server course about 6 years ago). Ironically, the harder tests seemed easier to me, because they are more generically about design than specifics of the applications or languages. The SQL Server one, for example, gives you a case study and asks you to build the application to fit the requirements, which I've done plenty of.
I also found out about the CIW (Certified Internet Webmaster) qualification, which I'd seen as requirements for a couple of job adverts. Anyone heard of this or have it? I've ordered a cheap second-hand book from Amazon because it might be worth reading up and taking the exam (for £90).

Even though these services haven't had widespread coverage or acceptance in the UK, they're better than nothing, and a quick way to brush up your skills and identify your strengths. It's occurred to me over the past couple of weeks that programmers need external validation, particularly those of us who work with open source. I'd like to see cheaper, more readily-available courses available for normal developers who work independently or in their spare time, to help fill this need.

If anyone knows of any other self-tests (e.g. where's a good place to sharpen my Python skills?), please add a comment.

townx - External validation of programming skill - Comments

Thanks Steve. I've seen that

Cheers Serge, very useful.

SQL tests

python challenge

External validation of programming skill