[consulting] Drupal Certification and Requirements

[Liam McDermott]

Chris Johnson wrote:
> Understanding how most of Drupal works and being able to use that 
> knowledge are probably among the key things that a Drupal developer
> would need to know.  Can the former be mapped onto the latter in
>  some sort of systematic way?  Hmm.
Thinking about the way other practical tests work, the driving test in 
the UK comes to mind (probably the same across the world). Examinees are 
given a set of tasks and if they complete them without triggering any 
failure conditions--such as breaking the speed limit, not indicating 
when turning etc.--then they pass. Drupal could have something like the 
following failure points:

   * module doesn't work or doesn't implement specified functionality;
   * module has been copied from the Internet (cheating);
   * did not adhere to coding style;
   * used database system specific PHP function call, e.g. mysql_query();
   * generated UI elements without theme functions or forms API;
   * uploaded/manipulated files without using the file interface;

In the driving test examinees are allowed to make a certain number of 
minor mistakes too, example Drupal minor mistakes: minor errors in 
coding style (like forgetting a newline before an else {), not writing 
portable SQL, or allowing data processing into their theme functions. So 
examinees must write a module without triggering any of the failure 
conditions (and without making too many minor mistakes). Then the 
examiner just uses the check list of problems to look for.

The modules coded in tests could roughly implement the topics on this 
page (or the important ones like FAPI, database abstraction etc.): 
http://api.drupal.org/api/groups this could make a good start.

Kind Regards,
Liam McDermott.