CSDP Exam Refresh in Full Swing
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., 27 August, 2009 -- The IEEE Computer Society is moving forward with the refresh of the Certified Software Development Professional examination, which will bring the credential in alignment with the 2010 refresh of the Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) as well as current software engineering industry trends. The changes will maintain the CSDP’s standing with the ISO-IEC standard for certification programs.
The refreshed CSDP exam will include four knowledge areas that will be present in the 2010 version of the SWEBOK Guide: software engineering economics, computing foundations, math foundations, and engineering foundations. The exam will also be brought up to current industry standards by offering greater recognition of agile development methods.
As a further benefit, the efforts will bring the CSDP, the Certified Software Development Associate (CSDA) credential for entry-level software professionals, the SWEBOK Guide, and the SE 2004 Curriculum into full alignment by 2010.
More than three dozen CSDP credential holders are participating in the nine-month effort to develop and test the new examination, which is expected to debut in March 2010. These volunteers are from both academia and industry and represent regions throughout the world.
“Keeping the CSDP credential current is important to both employers and employees. The challenge for employers is distinguishing top talent; the CSDP gives them a valuable tool to do this. For employees and job candidates, the CSDP credential allows those to stand out among the competition,” said Eddie Burris, a CSDP credential holder and volunteer.
The CSDP exam refresh process began with an extensive job requirements analysis that led to the framework for the new examination. In May, items from the existing CSDP examination were reviewed to see how many would be relevant for the new examination. In June, 390 new items were written and reviewed. From all of these items, a new exam will be created and beta tested in late 2009. Once testing is complete, the exam will be packaged and put in production in spring 2010.
“The CSDP helps to standardize the important issues for software development professionals, and reinforces the message that they should have a broad understanding of software engineering knowledge,” said Oscar Mondragon, CSDP, a volunteer from Zapopan, Mexico.
The CSDP exam refresh effort is being led by Steve Tockey, Chair of the IEEE Computer Society Processional Activities Board’s Certification Committee, and Chris Ruoff, Senior Manager of Business and Product Development.
Tockey is an industry veteran with 32 years of experience in software development and training. “I've been on more than one software project that delivered complex software with fewer defects than some of the best commercial software products and was finished early and under budget,” he said. “It's not a fluke; it's simply applying the kinds of skills and knowledge embodied in CSDP and the SWEBOK Guide. My goal is to raise the level of professionalism in our industry, and refreshing our exams is part of that effort.”
For more information, visit http://www.computer.org/getcertified
About the IEEE Computer Society
With nearly 85,000 members, the IEEE Computer Society is the world’s leading organization of computing professionals. Founded in 1946, and the largest of the 39 societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Computer Society is dedicated to advancing the theory and application of computer and information-processing technology. The Society serves the information and career-development needs of today’s computing researchers and practitioners with technical journals, magazines, conferences, books, conference publications, certifications, and online courses.
