How To Study For Programming Exam

[Tom Donahou]

Ahand written programming exam is a test that assesses a person's ability to write code by hand, without the aid of a computer or any other technology. It typically involves solving programming problems or writing algorithms on paper.

Hand written programming exams are still used because they allow for a more comprehensive evaluation of a person's coding skills. They test a person's ability to think critically, problem solve, and write efficient and organized code without the help of tools or resources.

To prepare for a hand written programming exam, it is important to practice writing code on paper beforehand. This will help improve your speed and accuracy, as well as your ability to organize your thoughts and code in a clear and concise manner. Additionally, reviewing important concepts and algorithms will also be beneficial.

Some tips for success on a hand written programming exam include reading the instructions carefully, planning out your approach before writing any code, and using clear and legible handwriting. It is also important to check your work for any errors or bugs before submitting your exam.

Yes, hand written programming exams are still relevant in today's digital age. While technology has advanced and made coding more accessible, being able to code without the aid of a computer is still a valuable skill. Hand written programming exams also help to assess a person's understanding of fundamental concepts and their ability to think critically and problem solve.

As an aspiring epidemiologist, I am extremely interested in becoming proficient in SAS, but I am trying to find easy-to-understand training materials. In addition, I would like to sit for the Base Programming Associate Certification exam (and then attempt additional certification exams). I reviewed the free SAS Programming 1: Essentials video on the official SAS website. However, the SAS Programming 2: Data Manipulation Techniques video is not free; does anyone know where I can obtain a free version? Also, for those who have taken the exam, if I study these two videos and follow along with the software, is that enough to pass the exam?

Why do you want to try the associate and not the performance based? It is true that the associate is easier, but at the end, as programmers, it's not so important to remember the exact number of bytes of a given type of variable, or abstract knowledge like that. It is more important that you are able too import and export, merge, filter and restructure tables, that is what the performance based tests. Anyway, SAS programming 1 alone is absolutely insufficient for the exam.

I took the Base Programming Specialist exam this year and can confirm that the two courses (SAS Programming 1: Essentials and SAS Programming 2: Data Manipulation Techniques) are sufficient if you do all included exercises. I think they are excellent examples of e-learnings.

When candidates are deciding whether to take the Associate or the Specialist, it boils down to experience and what job someone wants to do. The Specialist is more rigorous due to the lab/performance-based component. Anyone who doesn't have months of experience writing SAS code will find the Specialist exam challenging given the amount of code that needs to be written within a relatively short timeframe. It is appropriate for people who are seeking a job that will entail regular SAS programming for data manipulation, transformation, and introductory, exploratory statistics. The Associate is meant for people who have learned SAS but haven't had a lot of time to get experience writing code. They may want to demonstrate this knowledge with a credential. The job roles that they would seek would require understanding SAS code, being able to read and maybe edit others' SAS code, but not responsible for writing programs from scratch on a regular basis. It's a great fit for students. If they end up deciding to pursue a job that requires more proficiency, they could decide to take the Specialist exam then.

I think your question has pretty much been answered by now. As @Haemoglobin17 I personally would go for the performance based exam as well. But that depends on your programming skills. I found the time frame in the performance based exam to be quite tight ...

My personal recommendation is The Litte SAS Book (it's the 3rd time I find myself mentioning this today ). It is priced pretty reasonably and worth every ct. It is not a complete preparation for the exams but I will find it easy to fill the gap ... depending on your programming know-how of course.

I will be taking the exam soon this year and done with Essentials 1. Yes, the second part is not free but is absolutely necessary to clear the exam. I believe the course on coursera which is a specialization of 4 courses is more than enough apart from some reading to reinforce practical and visual memories of codes. What I do is enroll for 1/4 course and finish it within 1 week (very doable unless you are working full time). Since I complete the course within a week, I will not be charged. Best part, part 1 and 2 are same as that provided in SAS studio. I then spend 1 week revising part 1 and get some hands dirty with coding. Next week will go through 2/4 course and then spend another week revising and practicing. The 3rd and 4th courses are practice and mock. It is a perfect course for base I believe.

The coursera course is just Programming 1 and 2 packaged for coursera platform, the content is the same. I personally can not recommend Programming 1 and 2. The prep guide is much better despite the numerous errors.

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I just took the A00-211 base programming exam and missed the passing mark by 4 questions. It wasn't until afterward that I realized how many exam questions were online, and I discovered that the entire exam was available through some site for $30. I had been studying two books for a month in preparation for this exam. So I was wondering if the second time I take the exam, will the questions basically be the same? Because I keep seeing the same sample exam questions everywhere I look. If there is anyone out there who has taken the exam twice that can answer this question, I would really appreciate it.

If you missed by 4 points only then you're very close to pass the test. Going for the test a second time you know now how the questions look like (which also helps) - and that you have to read them carefully and take your time (as there is enough of it).

In the end of the day it's about getting the SAS skills. You won't do yourself and others a favor by getting a certification by cheating (and that's what it is if you just learn answers to exam questions without understanding).

One tip: I've observed that in SAS Certs there is always some focus on newly introduced stuff. I assume the SAS Base Cert. is still based on SAS9.2 - so read up for SAS9.2 the What's New section in the docu and look there for new or improved SAS functions (eg. countw() ) and statements. Knowing about this ones should already help you to answer several questions in the exam.

I am completely a novice to SAS and am looking forward to taking SAS Base Certification. What would be the first step? What materials will I need? Any suggestions will be highly appreciated. Thank you.

Sadly, during my 7+ years working as a professional developer in the tech industry, I have seen a metric used to measure developer and programmer success that in MOST cases does not match the actual skills needed to be successful.

Coding tests come in several different forms but at their core, their goal is to test your proficiency with computer science principles, algorithms, and general CS knowledge. Coding tests can be delivered in-person on a whiteboard, virtually in a coding sandbox environment or in live-virtual environment where an interviewer asks you to share your screen and watches you work.

NOTE: I am specifically using the word "REQUIRE" as I do not have an issue with a company that uses coding tests as one of their many metrics to evaluate candidates. I am particularly talking about companies that evaluate all technical developer/programming candidates via a coding test and DO NOT have an alternative option for a coding test in place.

So I can understand in the grand scheme of things why coding tests are useful. They allow a hiring team to quickly screen a large amount of candidates and gives a fairly easy metric to judge candidates by. It it by no coincidence that most very large tech companies use them in their initial stage of the interviewing process as a means to weed out "low competency" candidates.

But it is this EXACT reason that coding tests being a requirement in an interview process shows a lack of care or concern. It shows that the goal in this interview process is to weed out candidates, regardless of their wholistic strengths.

It doesn't matter if the candidate is a self-taught programmer, a high-performing developer who has worked in the industry for decades, or a college student pursuing their first opportunity, coding tests only evaluate you on a single metric. And if you have spoken with many recruiters or HR professionals at some of the bigger companies, it acts as the ultimate gate keeper to opportunities.

Being a tech professional who has been interviewee, interviewer, and sometimes just observed technical interviews, I have found that coding tests can be used to invalidate a developers experience and skill in an instance.

I have watched as EXTREMELY competent coder crumble when they were given a coding question that they struggled to answer and that I later found out, the interviewer didn't know how to solve. The interviewer simply went online found common coding questions and presented them to candidates. Luckily, I was able to participate in the interview and "intervened". This particular story ended up having a happy ending but not every interview will have an "observer" associated to it.

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