We get a certificate from Google Associate Android Developer
By itself, the exam to obtain a certificate Associate Android Developer has long been no news, the article about this certification was in Habré. However, while I was pondering on the topic “Should I not receive such a certificate?”, It turned out that the certification program was covered in May 2018.
However, covered up for long. In October, I received a letter informing me that certification was available again. Conditions and questions have changed, so the article will be about passing the new version of the exam.
“Wow, he has a certificate, we will take it to work,” not a single candidate in the world heard.
If you already have experience in developing for Android, then the certificate of Associate Android Developer can serve as evidence that you had an extra $ 150 and a couple of hours of time. If you have no experience developing for Android and you are looking for the first place to work, then why not.
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Personally, I haven’t written for Android for a long time and have been developing for Unity for the last years, so I missed all the new items in the form of Room, LiveData, etc. The $ 150 spent on the certificate motivates well to systematize knowledge, catch up and prepare for the exam.
Previously, the test was given 24 hours, now the test task is given 8 hours. Previously, there were three attempts, now only one, and in case of a file, $ 150 must be paid anew. Previously, after the test task, there was an interview with a living person, but now we need to record the answers on a webcam.
About the bad: the exam is still available only in Java, no support for Kotlin has appeared. This is a little strange, considering that the exam is mainly aimed at beginner Android developers (who, in principle, do not need Java). Looking ahead: it seems to me that even without knowledge of Java, the exam can be passed without problems, since the code is almost not necessary to write.
Oh good: the topics for the exam after the update have become quite relevant. There are no more tasks about widgets and content providers, but there is an Android Architecture Components: LiveData, Room and RecyclerView with a paging library.
Certification, though from Google, but carried out through the platform TrueAbility. After paying $ 149, you can pass the exam at any convenient time.
From the IDE, only Android Studio is supported, on which you need to install a special plugin and log in to the same Google account from which certification was paid.
After that, the plugin downloads the Android project test project, and the countdown begins. The exam cannot be put on pause, so it’s better to take up the exam when you have the opportunity to devote to certification for 8 hours in a row.
The details of the exam are prohibited to disclose, so I will tell only in general terms.
The test task is a ready working (almost) application on a couple of screens. Tasks give 10 pieces: implement a couple of new features, fix a couple of bugs and write a couple of tests. There is almost no need to write code: to perform each task, it is enough to add literally a line of code or add a couple of annotations. The exam is rather a test of the ability to understand the finished project, but the test task covers many different topics at once.
What you should pay attention: Architecture Components, MVVM, UI tests (Espresso). In general, there is nothing particularly superfluous in Exam Content .
I solved the tasks slowly, with breaks for tea and coffee, so it took me 4 hours to do everything. If everything is ready, then the test task can be sent at any time. After 8 hours, the test task will be sent automatically by the plugin. The application must run and work, otherwise the test task does not immediately count.
Pressing "send", we see such a concise empty dialogue:
In general, the plugin for Android Studio looks surprisingly careless. Starting from such empty dialogs, ending with a list of tasks, which you have to scroll to the top each time, as when opened it will automatically scroll to the bottom.
After sending the test, the plugin deletes the project from the disk. Apparently, just in case, that there was no temptation to share the project in the githaba.
After the test task it is not necessary to pass the interview immediately. This can be done at any convenient time during the week.
The interview is recorded via the TrueAbility website. Only 5 questions, each question is given 2 minutes and 30 seconds (to read the question). Questions go one after another, each answer - one short video. To google for such a time definitely will not work, but the questions are simple. Two questions out of five were not at all technical, but general on the project, in order to verify that it was you who did the test task. For questions, it seemed to me that the plugin collects and sends statistics from Android Studio, so one of the questions was very specific.
This concludes the exam, and the TrueAbility team promises to evaluate the results and contact them within 45 days.
As a rule, the result comes much earlier. I was answered after 3 days and congratulated with the successful passage of the Associate Android Developer Certification. Within 7 days they promised that the letter will come from Accredible (credential.net) with a beautiful picture of the certificate, warning that the letter could get into spam.
It turned out exactly as promised: after 7 days of days in the "spam" folder I was waiting for a letter with regular congratulations and a link to the certificate. It's quite amusing that Gmail itself regards emails about the result of Google certification as spam. It looks like $ 150:
In general, the exam seemed to me interesting, relevant and tied to the practice. Therefore, I recommend (especially if your company is ready to pay for you).
However, covered up for long. In October, I received a letter informing me that certification was available again. Conditions and questions have changed, so the article will be about passing the new version of the exam.
Why do you need it?
“Wow, he has a certificate, we will take it to work,” not a single candidate in the world heard.
If you already have experience in developing for Android, then the certificate of Associate Android Developer can serve as evidence that you had an extra $ 150 and a couple of hours of time. If you have no experience developing for Android and you are looking for the first place to work, then why not.
')
Personally, I haven’t written for Android for a long time and have been developing for Unity for the last years, so I missed all the new items in the form of Room, LiveData, etc. The $ 150 spent on the certificate motivates well to systematize knowledge, catch up and prepare for the exam.
Changes
Previously, the test was given 24 hours, now the test task is given 8 hours. Previously, there were three attempts, now only one, and in case of a file, $ 150 must be paid anew. Previously, after the test task, there was an interview with a living person, but now we need to record the answers on a webcam.
About the bad: the exam is still available only in Java, no support for Kotlin has appeared. This is a little strange, considering that the exam is mainly aimed at beginner Android developers (who, in principle, do not need Java). Looking ahead: it seems to me that even without knowledge of Java, the exam can be passed without problems, since the code is almost not necessary to write.
Oh good: the topics for the exam after the update have become quite relevant. There are no more tasks about widgets and content providers, but there is an Android Architecture Components: LiveData, Room and RecyclerView with a paging library.
Exam
Certification, though from Google, but carried out through the platform TrueAbility. After paying $ 149, you can pass the exam at any convenient time.
From the IDE, only Android Studio is supported, on which you need to install a special plugin and log in to the same Google account from which certification was paid.
After that, the plugin downloads the Android project test project, and the countdown begins. The exam cannot be put on pause, so it’s better to take up the exam when you have the opportunity to devote to certification for 8 hours in a row.
The details of the exam are prohibited to disclose, so I will tell only in general terms.
The test task is a ready working (almost) application on a couple of screens. Tasks give 10 pieces: implement a couple of new features, fix a couple of bugs and write a couple of tests. There is almost no need to write code: to perform each task, it is enough to add literally a line of code or add a couple of annotations. The exam is rather a test of the ability to understand the finished project, but the test task covers many different topics at once.
What you should pay attention: Architecture Components, MVVM, UI tests (Espresso). In general, there is nothing particularly superfluous in Exam Content .
I solved the tasks slowly, with breaks for tea and coffee, so it took me 4 hours to do everything. If everything is ready, then the test task can be sent at any time. After 8 hours, the test task will be sent automatically by the plugin. The application must run and work, otherwise the test task does not immediately count.
Pressing "send", we see such a concise empty dialogue:
In general, the plugin for Android Studio looks surprisingly careless. Starting from such empty dialogs, ending with a list of tasks, which you have to scroll to the top each time, as when opened it will automatically scroll to the bottom.
After sending the test, the plugin deletes the project from the disk. Apparently, just in case, that there was no temptation to share the project in the githaba.
Interview
After the test task it is not necessary to pass the interview immediately. This can be done at any convenient time during the week.
The interview is recorded via the TrueAbility website. Only 5 questions, each question is given 2 minutes and 30 seconds (to read the question). Questions go one after another, each answer - one short video. To google for such a time definitely will not work, but the questions are simple. Two questions out of five were not at all technical, but general on the project, in order to verify that it was you who did the test task. For questions, it seemed to me that the plugin collects and sends statistics from Android Studio, so one of the questions was very specific.
This concludes the exam, and the TrueAbility team promises to evaluate the results and contact them within 45 days.
Result
As a rule, the result comes much earlier. I was answered after 3 days and congratulated with the successful passage of the Associate Android Developer Certification. Within 7 days they promised that the letter will come from Accredible (credential.net) with a beautiful picture of the certificate, warning that the letter could get into spam.
It turned out exactly as promised: after 7 days of days in the "spam" folder I was waiting for a letter with regular congratulations and a link to the certificate. It's quite amusing that Gmail itself regards emails about the result of Google certification as spam. It looks like $ 150:
In general, the exam seemed to me interesting, relevant and tied to the practice. Therefore, I recommend (especially if your company is ready to pay for you).
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/434018/
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