[BangPypers] Certification

[Jeff Rush]

Dorai Thodla wrote:
> Anand,
> You make some good points. I have had similar experience to the one you
> describe with certified Java and .NET progammers too.
> 
> It may be interesting to find out what python.org <http://python.org>
> thinks about certification.

Hi Dorai.  As far as I know, in my role as former Python Advocacy Coordinator,
there are no Python certifications anywhere.  Sometimes there is talk that we
ought to have them, but a large number of people are against the idea.   Not
that that would matter, in that any group of people could start it moving, and
those who like the idea would use it and those who don't can ignore it.

I personally have an interest, not in formal certification which relies upon
the reputation of some evaluation company, but in what I call my "So you think
you know Python..." project.  The idea would be to have a website where people
can go to test themselves, with links to learning material that fill in the
gaps identified in their knowledge.  The questions would not be fixed but
dynamically generated, so that a person cannot just memorize the answers.  And
if desired an employer could sit an interviewee down in front of a PC and have
him complete the test in front of him.

No such system is perfect but it would give a starting point for measuring the
capabilities of a Python programmer.  I don't look at it as some enforcement
measure for catching pretenders, like most certification does, but rather for
helping those medium-level programmers who have learned enough Python to get
along but don't know what they don't know and could use pointers to advanced
lessons.  The idea is to help create better Python programmers, in an
non-corporate, opensource manner.

I hope some year to show something like this off at PyCon but currently lack
the time to implement it myself.

-Jeff