New MySQL 5.6 Developer Certification Exam

You may have already seen the news: Oracle is launching an updated certification for MySQL Developers, based on MySQL Server 5.6.  This is exciting to me for several reasons that I want to share:

Only one exam

Earlier versions of the MySQL Developer certification required sitting for two separate exams.  One goal in redefining the certification process was to make it more accessible to candidates, and reducing the cost – in both time and money – developers need to invest in examinations.  This obviously presented a challenge to cover the same material – actually more, when you consider MySQL 5.6 features – in fewer questions, but we feel we’ve done it.

Content from the experts

Content creation for this exam has drawn from many different volunteers from a wide range of MySQL teams including Training, Engineering and Sales Consultants – but it drew most heavily from the amazing MySQL Support Team, who assist developers (and DBAs) daily with MySQL questions, and who understand better than just about anybody what these developers need to know in order to successfully develop applications against MySQL Server 5.6.  The covered exam topics are listed here.

Better question format

As we wrote new exam questions and reviewed those from the earlier version of the MySQL Developer certification exams, we ensured that the questions were written in such a way to test the candidate’s knowledge, rather than ability to decipher the question.  In particular, that means no more open-ended multiple-guess questions, where it’s unclear whether one … or two … or three … or four of the six possible answers are correct.  As somebody who has taken his fair share of MySQL certification exams in the past, this was a pet peeve of mine with earlier exams.

Development focus

Because this is a developer-focused certification, we want successful candidates to be able to demonstrate ability to write MySQL-backed applications in several common languages.  One does not need to be an expert at all languages to pass the exam, but understanding common language-specific idioms and best practices are important.  That’s a step beyond the earlier certification, which focused almost exclusively on SQL statements.  There’s more to writing good MySQL-backed applications than writing sound SQL, and this exam expands scope to include more of that necessary knowledge.

Alignment with MySQL Developer Training

Naturally, the certification process covers the same ground as Oracle’s MySQL Training for Developers course, making that an ideal opportunity to get up to speed on the topics which will help you pass the exam, but more importantly, develop successful applications that use MySQL Server 5.6 as a data store.

A huge thanks to the MySQL Support Team and Training Team at Oracle for helping drive this update, as well as those from other MySQL teams here at Oracle who contributed time and content.