[consulting] Drupal Certification and Requirements

Fri Dec 21 12:07:37 UTC 2007

.
>
> So certification will not solve what is at the heart of the failure rate.
>

you may be right there, something else may need to be done too
but a proper innovative 'certification' , if correctly done in the
same community spirit that Drupal has as its core, may reduce some of
the current uncertainties that some Drupal users face
(perhaps)

cheers

PDM

> Victor
>
>
>
> On Dec 21, 2007 8:39 AM, <paola.dimaio at gmail.com > wrote:
> > HI Victor
> > very quickly scanned thorough your mail
> > You make some good points
> >
> > I am not sure that all the premises as you 'read then' were actually
> intended
> > as the original meaning
> >
> > brief comments below
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > One premise I find most faulty is "Drupal is entering the corporate
> world,
> > > it must shape up to standards".
> > I am not sure this was a premise for this thread. More perhaps, in my
> reading
> > 'drupal is more and more widely adopted, and there is an increasingly
> > scarcity of
> > drupal skills out there'
> >
> > the corporate vs social world is another issue imho which I dont enter
> > into right now
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > Another premise I find faulty here is that of the emphasis upon
> individual
> > > certification. In the real IT world, quality sites come out of
> collectives,
> > > cooperatives, studios, companies, groups working together, and following
> > > some kind of capability maturity model. ...> Excellence in treating us,
> the Drupal consultants, so as to get the best > results.
> >
> > sure - I dont think that any form of documentation of skills would
> > contradict any of the above
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> > > The third kind of premise I find faulty here is the "every time I hire
> > > someone they fail" variety.
> >
> > I dont say that at all. It's that I have to work very hard and
> > exchange dozens of emails with lots of strangers and do a lot of
> > vetting, etc to find a suitable drupal developer, who is both
> > available, willing, honest, reasoably priced, capable etc etc -  and
> > the risk is high!  the costs of implementing a Drupal solution these
> > days, risks of becoming higher and higher because of skills shortage
> > (from my personal experience) \
> > Such shortage may also be only 'perceived', as there may be maybe many
> > great devs who never are listed on the drupal website. you must give
> > them a chance to come out too...
> > I mean when I need a drupal developer it turns like a full time job
> >
> >
> >
> > > , we need a bloody union.
> >
> > haha - why not?
> >
> > and maybe also a interfaith sect
> >
> > cheers
> >
> > PDM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> > > So, let's beware of corporate crises and hysterical forms of
> organization
> > > overturning the carts in the bazaar, let's beware of crass individualism
> and
> > > the hiding of the group effort and the fact that one is standing on the
> > > shoulders of giants, and let's beware of corporate greed as a tool of
> > > organization, and let's beware of the need to extract surplus value from
> > > Drupal developers as a building block of quality and excellence.
> > >
> > > And let's beware of tinkering with something that is already working.
> And
> > > let's beware of what is demonstrably not working in the world as a
> whole.
> > >
> > > More than certification we need a bloody union!!!
> > >
> > > Victor Kane
> > > http://awebfactory.com.ar
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Dec 21, 2007 7:27 AM, Liam McDermott <liam at intermedia-online.com >
> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > 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.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > consulting mailing list
> > > > consulting at drupal.org
> > > > http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > consulting mailing list
> > > consulting at drupal.org
> > > http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Paola Di Maio
> > School of IT
> > www.mfu.ac.th
> > *********************************************
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> > consulting mailing list
> > consulting at drupal.org
> > http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> consulting mailing list
> consulting at drupal.org
> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
>
>


-- 
Paola Di Maio
School of IT
www.mfu.ac.th
*********************************************