C++ Certification

[learnfpga]

Hey All,
I am trying to learn programming in C++. I have some background in it
but want to improve the level of understanding. Now I know what most
people think about certifications (not a very good impression). However
what I want to do is appear for some sort of certification that is not
very expensive but also give me a good over all understanding of C++. I
think this will give me a headstart because I will work more diligently
if I can see the goal in front of me instead of just reading books and
practising C++ programming.

Do you guys have any suggestion as to what certifications are out there
that have some level of respect in the community. Thanks in advance for
all your replies

 

[Phlip]

Do you guys have any suggestion as to what certifications are out there
that have some level of respect in the community. Thanks in advance for
all your replies

Download C++ projects from www.sf.net and www.boost.org and play.

Just getting some of them to compile will put you in the top 99% ;-)

 

[BigBrian]

Do you guys have any suggestion as to what certifications are out there
that have some level of respect in the community. Thanks in advance for
all your replies

I don't know how much respect it has in the community ( IMHO it's
non-zero ), but look at www.brainbench.com

-Brian

 

[asdf]

At our company we ask potential hires really tricky c++ questions. If
them get them correct and totally understand everything on say a level
at par with stroustrupe then we definitley do not hire these people -
as they are likely not to do any programming when at work - but will
sit around all day reading newsgroups, c++ mags, and programming books.

 

[Sgt. York]

At our company we ask potential hires really tricky c++ questions. If
them get them correct and totally understand everything on say a level
at par with stroustrupe then we definitley do not hire these people -
as they are likely not to do any programming when at work - but will
sit around all day reading newsgroups, c++ mags, and programming books.

100% agreement. Better yet if they say, "I don't know the answer, but
here is how I would research the problem ...."

 

[Art Stamness]

When this is the attitude of the programmers around you. I have one bit
of advice :

Quit!

It is a sad state of affairs that these individuals feel that the more
you know the less they want to hire you. Hopefully you will be able to
pick this up in an interview context, so you never have to work with
these people.

Paraphrased from Guy Kawasaki on hiring standards:

" I am an A-, looking to hire a bunch of A's" . . . " Beware though,
once you hire a B, they are going to Hire C's, and they are going to
hire D's."

My suggestion is aspire to learn your craft the best, and find an
environment which encourages individual contributors to continue to
advance their skill set. This creates a Meritocracy, where hopefully
you are measured on the weight of your contribution, and you strive to
learn more, with the goal of being more productive.

I have not found any certification program that would give me
confidence that its graduates are like this. What I do find helpful
though is to ask them what C++ books they have read? If they rattle off
: Meyers, Sutter, Stroupstrop, Alexandrescu, Lakos. And are able to
talk about what they have learned from these people, how they have used
these ideas in there jobs, and why it makes for better software.

You have a winner.

Avoid mediocre programmers who accept mediocrity. They will accept it
in testing, in design, in performance, in features, and probably in
every other aspect of there professional conduct, and they are not the
people you want to be building your software.

Just my .02c.

-Art

 

[Phlip]

At our company we ask potential hires really tricky c++ questions. If
them get them correct and totally understand everything on say a level
at par with stroustrupe then we definitley do not hire these people -
as they are likely not to do any programming when at work - but will
sit around all day reading newsgroups, c++ mags, and programming books.

I once scored the highest that had ever been scored on a professional C++
test. I owed answering questions here. (Not things like reading The
Standard.) The test had hard, detailed questions, not the typical ones you
can find in online exams.

I also read just enough programming books and resources to stay ahead of the
competition, and generally write clean code that causes very little risk to
my organization. So if you don't want me to complain when you guys exploit
undefined behavior, and implement via Debugger Driven Design, then your
system will indeed keep me out of your hair!

 

[Sgt. York]

When this is the attitude of the programmers around you. I have one bit
of advice :

Quit!

It is a sad state of affairs that these individuals feel that the more
you know the less they want to hire you. Hopefully you will be able to
pick this up in an interview context, so you never have to work with
these people.

Paraphrased from Guy Kawasaki on hiring standards:

" I am an A-, looking to hire a bunch of A's" . . . " Beware though,
once you hire a B, they are going to Hire C's, and they are going to
hire D's."

My suggestion is aspire to learn your craft the best, and find an
environment which encourages individual contributors to continue to
advance their skill set. This creates a Meritocracy, where hopefully
you are measured on the weight of your contribution, and you strive to
learn more, with the goal of being more productive.

I have not found any certification program that would give me
confidence that its graduates are like this. What I do find helpful
though is to ask them what C++ books they have read? If they rattle off
: Meyers, Sutter, Stroupstrop, Alexandrescu, Lakos. And are able to
talk about what they have learned from these people, how they have used
these ideas in there jobs, and why it makes for better software.

You have a winner.

Avoid mediocre programmers who accept mediocrity. They will accept it
in testing, in design, in performance, in features, and probably in
every other aspect of there professional conduct, and they are not the
people you want to be building your software.

Just my .02c.

-Art

Being an ace coder and/or coding-standards wizard, or an omniscient god
of language constructs, OOP techniques and template meta-programming
doesn't amount to a hill of beans if you are handed a real-world problem
that requires some creativity and thought outside of making a CPU sing.
If you are looking to hire someone to write a book on the language of
choice then by all means, hire the geek. But our experience over the
years has been that the interviewees with the problem solving ability
*in any realm* are the aces in the hole. For us, programming is just a
tool, a means to an end, that happens to be very useful in solving the
real problems our products are designed to handle. A mechanic who is
very skilled with a torque wrench isn't necessarily equipped to rebuild
an engine.

 

[Ian Collins]

At our company we ask potential hires really tricky c++ questions. If
them get them correct and totally understand everything on say a level
at par with stroustrupe then we definitley do not hire these people -
as they are likely not to do any programming when at work - but will
sit around all day reading newsgroups, c++ mags, and programming books.

Bad advice.

Always look to hire someone better than yourself.

 

[al pacino]

thank you thank you, what a brilliant answer.

i am a student and recently got a job with accenture.

 

[asdf]

I guess that's why we make more money per employee than almost any
other company in the world. Must be all that bad advice. Proof is in
the pudding my friend.

 

[Dave Townsend]

Which company do you work for? I'll know not to waste my time with a bunch
of wankers.

 

[Ian Collins]

Which company do you work for? I'll know not to waste my time with a bunch
of wankers.

I thought it was best left unsaid, but now I see it +1