Exam Exam #486: Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with UML Certification, Vendor IBM Status Live Reviewer's Rating "Expect lots of diagrams and at least one case study. Be sure to take it on a large monitor so you don't spend too much time scrolling between the exhibits and the questions." Test Information Apx. 55 questions, 69 percent needed to pass. Cost: $150 (U.S.). Who Should Take This Exam? Anyone who wants to prove their proficiency in UML -- background in Java extremely useful. Counts towards IBM's Certified Developer title. What Classes Prepare You? Click here Test Objectives Click here

This is the role of UML. It is the blueprint of the software industry. By definition:

"The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a language for specifying, constructing, visualizing, and documenting the artifacts of a software-intensive system."

UML gives everyone from business analyst to designer to programmer a common vocabulary to talk about software design. UML makes the software development process much easier by merging the concepts of Booch, OMT and OOSE. The result is a single, common and widely usable modeling language for the development of software. Before this merger of techniques, the industry was full of different methodologies and ideas which sometimes could be quite confusing. UML eliminates this by merging those techniques into one.

If you want to be certified in UML, you'll most likely tackle IBM's Exam #486: Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with UML.

Exam Basics
Following is a list of the main objectives of IBM's UML Exam (for a detailed list of objectives, click here):

• Development Process
• Requirements Modeling
• Architecture
• Static Modeling
• Dynamic Modeling
• Design and Implementation Techniques

This exam currently features around 55 questions, with a pass rate of 69 percent, although this may vary depending on the difficulty of the actual questions served. You have 120 minutes to finish the exam. The fee is $150 (US). It is available at Prometric testing centers worldwide in English and Japanese.

The UML Experience
The test assumes fluency in object-oriented (OO) terminology such as inheritance, interface, aggregation, subclass, superclass, assignment of responsibilities, etc. It also assumes knowledge of the role of each of the UML diagrams (e.g., Use Case, Class, Sequence, Collaboration, State, Deployment, etc.) The sample exams provided by IBM (e.g., ICE exams) are a great way to get comfortable with the types of questions you'll see on this exam as well as subject matter.

There are a lot of questions with exhibits on this exam -- up to 75 percent. The size of the diagrams is such that most of them require scrolling. In fact, some of them are up to four times the size of a 14-inch monitor screen -- pretty miserable if you're testing on that 14-inch monitor. Some of the questions actually offer two exhibits: a main exhibit which is the subject of the question, and a second exhibit with extra information to help you answer the question correctly. If your monitor is small, you may not have time to look at both of them

Tip: When you register for this exam, try to find a testing center that offers at least 17-inch monitors -- otherwise, you'll waste too much time scrolling to see all the exhibits.

One thing that's nice about the UML exam is that you can mark questions and go back to them later. The UML exam features some questions asking for multiple answers, but most questions will ask you to select the single "best" answer (more on this below). Also expect to run across one major case study, and perhaps some minor ones.

At the end of the exam, you will be given a breakdown of your score by topic and the overall score. With this you can identify your major weaknesses and strengths in case of re-test or just to improve your score further. Be sure not to lose your score sheet -- there is no certificate just for passing UML, so you'll need them!

What To Watch Out For
UML is not for people who lack a background in OO languages. Even those who program in C may find it difficult. Java is definitely the preferred language; before you tackle this exam, be sure to learn enough of Java to be comfortable with the basic programming skills. You might also want to code and compile some of the designs to get a better feel for implementation..

I said earlier that the UML exam is relatively easy if you know what you're doing, and that's true, but there are some tricky points to this exam, particularly when it comes to time. IBM gives you a lot to cover, and again, scrolling to see those diagrams eats the minutes away fairly quickly. Be sure to practice time management when you take this exam -- e.g., do all the easy questions first, leaving the larger, thinking ones for later. Many questions are based on repeat exhibits, so by jumping back and forth, you may be able to eliminate answers based on what you chose previously.

And there's also the questions where you have to pick the "best" answer. These are the trickiest questions on this exam -- all the answers are correct, but you have to pick the "best" one. Get some practice with these types of questions using the aforementioned ICE exams before you go into the testing center.

I've said it before and will again: You may end up with exhibit diagrams four times the size of your screen. Watch the clock to be sure you don't spend more time scrolling the screen than answering the questions.

How I Prepared For The Exam
Preparation for UML requires an average of around 60 to 80 hours if you've got a solid background in OO technology, and around three to five months if you're a beginner. There are many workshops available from IBM and Sun that can teach you UML. I personally skipped these classes -- some books, a few free Web resources, and the guidance of my professors were all I needed.

My preparation for UML started with a visit to the certification section of IBM's Web site (click here and scroll down to exam 486). They have outlined a self-study method, which I also followed. This means taking the free preassessment test and then studying from three books that IBM recommends:

• UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard Object Modeling Language, 2nd Edition by Martin Fowler and Kendall Scott
• Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design by Craig Larman
• Complete UML Training Course by Grady Booch, et. al.

These are the bibles of UML. There's no better study material available and, in most cases, these would be enough. But I two more books to my self-study list:

• Beginning Java Objects: From Concepts to Code by Jacquie Barker
• UML Explained by Kendall Scott

Beginning Java Objects is one of the best books for understanding both OO programming and UML. Jacquie Barker has made the language very easy to understand, and the case study included in the book uses a step-by-step solving approach that clears concepts very quickly. After this book, the others become much easier to understand.

But UML is not about reading. It's about understanding. Thus, after reading Beginning Java Objects and UML explained, I stuck to Fowler and Larman. I read both these books twice.

My technique of studying was to try and understand the diagrams given, especially in Larman. I would try and understand his main points and figure out what to do. Once I finished the book, I tried solving a few questions from online resources. The sites I used were:

• ObjectMentor.com -- Features articles by Robert Martin and talks about different UML diagrams.
• The ICE Test -- A great area on Java Ranch that breaks down the ICE exams mentioned above. Also visit this site's forums for advice when you get stuck.
• Cetus-link.org -- An excellent site with everything you can think of related to UML, plus other tutorials.
• ObjectsByDesign.com Certification Tools -- Good links to forums, sites, etc. and gives a very good overview of the exam.

Other sites I found useful for tutorials include:

• http://www.togethersoft.com/services/practical_guides/umlonlinecourse/index.html
• http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/UML_Tutorial.htm
• http://www.advancedsw.com/training/tutorials.html
• http://uml.tutorials.trireme.com/
• http://odl-skopje.etf.ukim.edu.mk/uml-help/
• http://www.web-expert.dk/links/pages/UML/
• http://www.celigent.com/omg/umlrtf/tutorials.htm
• http://yukon.genie.uottawa.ca/~lavoie/software/uml/

And then it was back to the books again. By the time I had finished I had done the practice exams four times, and read the books twice. My scores were regularly in the 70s and 80s percentage-wise, so I was quite comfortable.

Even so, one other thing I found particularly helpful were assignments from my teachers, where I had to breakdown small case studies. These practice exercises included both coding the cases and drawing the diagrams. They were tough to get through, but the concepts were very clear at the end.

On the day before the exam, I went through the same diagrams I had studied so many times before. I still found mistakes in my approach, if it's possible to believe.

Tips and Tricks
Here's some final tips and tricks for preparing for this exam. Some of these are repeats from above, but they're so important that they're worth sharing again.

• Be very comfortable with Fowler's UML Distilled and Larman's Applying UML and Patterns. In fact, I would recommend that you go through them at least twice.
• Don't miss IBM's ICE exams before taking the real test. There is a significant amount of overlap, and if you score well in the ICE exam questions, you should pass the actual test.
• Do any sample tests available as many times as possible. Start analyzing the questions in detail, and notice the small details in the questions you have previously overlooked (In the beginning, most people do overlook the small but important details -- I know I did!). Only after that will you really start learning. Plus, training yourself to see these details is very useful in the real test.
• Pay particular attention to Chapters 3 through 8 in Fowler's UML Distilled, and his excellent Appendix A. Fowler uses an intelligent subset of UML notation. It is the subset you will need for the exam.
• Seventy-six percent of the exam content is process, requirements, static and dynamic modeling. Larman's emphasis is on explaining each of these separately and then tying them together. By the end of Chapter 26, you'll have enough for the exam. You should also know Chapter 30: Architecture and the Layers pattern. But be guided by the exam objectives at all times -- much of the information you study in Larman is irrelevant to the certification. Of course, this is for those people who are pressed for time. Otherwise, I recommend reading as much as you can from this book just for what you can learn from it.
• Go over all the questions one final time before you finish, not just the ones you have marked. This procedure sometimes reveals mistakes you've made and can really improve your score.
• Don't forget about that case study! You'll most likely get it, so you need to prepare for it. Know how to extract classes, methods, attributes. Remember, nouns are likely to become classes. Verbs are typically methods. Write the use case from the case study. From the use cases, draw the interaction diagrams. Know what the diagrams are for and do. Know what each object of the diagram does.
• Know all the following diagrams:
  a. Class Diagram
  b. Activity Diagram
  c. State Diagram
  d. Sequence Diagram
  f. Collaboration
  e. Use Case Diagram
  g. System Sequence Diagram
  h. Conceptual Model
  j. Object Model/Diagram
  k. Deployment Diagram
  l. Package Diagram
  m. Component Diagram

Is It Worth It?
If you're going to be spending this much time in UML, you should know what your efforts can bring you. In terms of job hunting, UML certification can only help. UML is the present and future of software development. And having your skills on paper can really help; often, when employers don't know something, they tend to stick to what's right in front of them, and proof -- such as your score on this exam -- can go a long way. Plus, with just one more exam, you can become an IBM Certified Solution Developer. Details are at
http://www-1.ibm.com/certify/certs/adsdjvv4.shtml.

On the software development side, UML can save your next project. It helps you to identify flaws before proceeding to the implementation. Taking out bugs during planning is less expensive compared to the rates you pay during testing.

As with all certifications worth pursuing, the payoff is not in the sheet of paper in your hand, it is the knowledge in your mind.

I wish you luck in your exam.

More articles by Umair Mohsin:

• Beyond SCJP: Sun's Web Component Developer Exam