OCUP 2 Certification Guide

Preparing for the OMG Certified UML 2.5 Professional 2 Foundation Exam

Michael Jesse Chonoles

• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780128096406
• eBook ISBN: 9780128097830
• Topic: Ciencia de la computación
• Subtopic: Lenguajes de programación

OCUP 2 Certification Guide: Preparing for the OMG Certified UML 2.5 Professional 2 Foundation Exam both teaches UML® 2.5 and prepares candidates to become certified. UML® (Unified Modeling Language) is the most popular graphical language used by software analysts, designers, and developers to model, visualize, communicate, test, and document systems under development. UML® 2.5 has recently been released, and with it a new certification program for practitioners to enhance their current or future career opportunities. There are three exam levels: Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced. The exam covered in this book, Foundation, is a prerequisite for the higher levels.Author Michael Jesse Chonoles is a lead participant in the current OCUP 2 program—not only in writing and reviewing all the questions, but also in designing the goals of the program. This book distills his experience in modeling, mentoring, and training. Because UML® is a sophisticated language, with 13 diagram types, capable of modeling any type of modern software system, it takes users some time to become proficient. This effective resource will explain the material in the Foundation exam and includes many practice questions for the candidate, including sample problems similar to those found in the exam, and detailed explanations of why correct answers are correct and why wrong answers are wrong.- Written to prepare candidates for the OCUP 2 Foundation level exam while they learn UML®- Illustrated with UML® diagrams to clarify every concept and technique- Offers hints for studying and test-taking based on the specific nature and structure of the Foundation Level exam- Includes practice exam material, sample questions and exercises, warnings, tips, and points to remember throughout

Chapter 1

What is OCUP 2?

Abstract

In this chapter, we will cover the information about the OMG Certified UML Professional 2 program. We will tell you everything you want to know about the examinations (except the answers, of course) and give you some hints on taking them. This material is not on the examinations, but it will help in passing them.

Keywords

Advanced level; allowed time; answer; beta testing; brain dump; cheating; class diagram; cut score; distractor; foundation level; guessing; intermediate level; item; item structure; key; model builder; model user; multiple choice; OMG Certified UML Professional (OCUP); OMG Certified UML Professional 2 (OCUP 2); Object Management Group (OMG); option; passing; Pearson Vue; psychometrician; question; scenario; state machine diagram; stem; studying; test structure; test taking; UML Technology Institute (UTI)

1.1 The OCUP Programs

1.1.1 OMG Certified UML Professional 1

In 2003, the Object Management Group (OMG) established a certification program for users of UML, based on the UML standard then undergoing finalization, UML 2.0. The certification program was a three-level program called the OMG Certified UML Professional (OCUP).

The program was very successful, and many candidates took and passed the examinations¹. Since the OCUP program was created, tens of thousands of candidates have taken the examinations and have been certified. These certificate holders come pretty evenly from countries around the world and every continent (except Antarctica). No single country dominates².

Unfortunately, some candidates thought that the original examinations were overly focused on the UML 2.0 specification and metamodel, and not sufficiently on more practical aspects of UML modeling. The candidates that passed certainly knew their UML, but some good modelers may have failed because they were not sufficiently familiar with the UML specification documents. The UML specifications, then, as now, are formal documents with a syntax and terminology of their own and are not intended for the practical modeler. These documents are more appropriate for tool vendors, language designers, and chief modelers or methodologists tailoring UML for a project.

1.1.2 OMG Certified UML Professional 2

By 2013, with the development of UML 2.5, which entailed a significant restructuring and simplification of the UML specifications (e.g., merging the two documents; Infrastructure and Superstructure into one document) the certification examinations needed to change. No longer could the test depend in any way on the original 2.0 UML specifications and metamodel³. Moreover, by the time of UML 2.5, significant changes had occurred to UML that needed to be included in any certification program. This time, taking advantage of the need to rewrite, now the examinations do not rely on specific knowledge of the format of the UML specification or the metamodel, except where relevant to the practical application of modeling. Of course, the certification examinations ultimately rely on the content of the UML 2.5 Specification, because the specification defines UML.

The first exam in the OMG Certified UML Professional 2 (OCUP 2) series, the Foundation Level, came out in 2014. The next exam, the Intermediate Level, will be available in 2016. The final exam, the Advanced Level, will be available in 2017.

1.1.3 Why Does OMG Offer It?

I asked Jon Siegel, Ph.D., Director of the Certification for OMG (and Vice President, Technology Transfer) why OMG offers the OCUP 2 program. Here is his answer.

Certification Program benefits an organization’s standard in many ways. Most fundamentally, it creates a population of trained, identifiable practitioners. Hiring managers charged with introducing UML modeling to a company will favor these candidates because their knowledge level is certified, but companies with established UML modeling groups benefit as well. The program also forms the focus of an “ecosystem” of support as training courses (taught in-person or online), books, and ancillary material are produced and published. Working together, all of these factors encourage the spread of usage of a standard. This has certainly been the case for UML, OCUP, and OCUP 2.⁴

1.1.4 Why Should You Take It?

Candidates take the certification examinations for two kinds of reasons: To impress others, and to prove something to themselves. The others you might try to impress, include your current boss, future hiring bosses, and project/team leaders looking to fill a position, or contracting, and outsourcing agencies looking to hire. In some cases, a particular level of certification may be required for a job or appointment. Many companies have programs or study groups that sponsor (and pay for) the examinations for their employees. A few universities are considering the idea of adding certifications to their degree requirements.

Some candidates feel a strong sense of accomplishment when they become certified and try to get as many certifications as possible.

Candidates also learn from their examination results report, which specifies in what UML topic areas they are strong and in what topic areas they are weak. A good diagnostic evaluation of their skills is very useful. Many candidates can use a realistic evaluation; people often have significantly overvalued or undervalued their abilities.

Though a candidate will learn much from the examination results report, most of the learning arises from studying for the exam. UML 2.5 is very large and complex. With just 90 questions per exam, we can only test a small percentage of the UML language. The learning of UML comes from studying the topics not by sitting for the examination.

Points to Remember

• The OCUP programs have been very popular and successful.

• The OCUP 2 program replaces the OCUP 1 program.

• OCUP 2 is based on UML 2.5; OCUP 1 was based on UML 2.0

• OCUP 2 is more focused on modeling than OCUP 1, which was more focused on the specification structure.

• Becoming OCUP 2 certified demonstrates to your employers, peers, and yourself, that you are competent in UML 2.5 modeling.

• The learning that you undergo by certification is in the studying, not in the test taking.

1.2 The Levels

The OCUP 2 Certification program has three levels of certification: Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced. We determined what should go in each level by examining UML 2.5 training programs, industry hiring requirements, project requirements, and UML tools capabilities. The team of experts developing the OCUP 2 program includes UML book authors, UML trainers, both in-house and independent, people working on the UML specifications, senior project leaders, and methodologists for UML-using projects.

Each level builds on knowledge of the previous levels though most material is only tested on one exam. You cannot get the Advanced certification by just passing the Advanced Exam; you need to pass the earlier exams also. We show this in the UML state machines diagram of Fig. 1.1.

Figure 1.1 State machine diagram for passing exams and certifications.

Here is how we determined the contents of the levels.

1.2.1 Foundation Level

For example, looking at the Foundation Level, we examined the hiring requirements for entry-level UML modelers (UML model builders) and other people on a team that are required to read UML Models, (i.e., UML model users). Some projects do not put UML skills into their hiring requirements; instead, they send their developers to take an “Introduction to UML” course (usually three to four days long). If UML material did not fall into the prerequisites for real jobs, or if it did not fall into a typical “Introduction to UML” curriculum, it was not placed in the Foundation Level exam.

We also looked at tool support. If popular UML tools do not commonly support a notation, we did not include the notation, though the conce...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Discount Information
• Chapter 1. What is OCUP 2?
• Chapter 2. What is UML?
• Chapter 3. Questions for Chapter 2
• Chapter 4. The Organization of UML
• Chapter 5. Questions for Chapter 4
• Chapter 6. Objects and Classes
• Chapter 7. Questions for Chapter 6
• Chapter 8. Packages and Namespaces
• Chapter 9. Questions for Chapter 8
• Chapter 10. Finishing the Static Model
• Chapter 11. Questions for Chapter 10
• Chapter 12. Use Cases
• Chapter 13. Questions for Chapter 12
• Chapter 14. Behavior: Sequence Diagrams
• Chapter 15. Questions for Chapter 14
• Chapter 16. Behavior: Activity Diagrams
• Chapter 17. Questions for Chapter 16
• Chapter 18. Behavior: State Machine Diagrams
• Chapter 19. Questions for Chapter 18
• Index