UML 2 Certification Guide: Fundamental and Intermediate Exams (The MK/OMG Press)

If you are seeking certification in the Unified Modeling Language (UML), then you must read "UML 2 Certification Guide: Fundamental & Intermediate Exams". It is an outstanding study guide as well as a valuable reference book for the experienced UML Practitioner. In this well-crafted and well-organized book, Tim Weilkiens and Bernd Oestereich explain UML is such a way that each chapter builds knowledge necessary for the following chapters.I found this book very helpful for obtaining the certification. UML's key definitions and concepts are defined, modeled, and described clearly and concisely. The sample tests revealed strengths and gaps in my understanding, and allowed me to focus my studies. From the information in each chapter, I prepared flash cards. The sample test questions translated directly as did the key definitions. I suggest this technique for anyone preparing for the exam.I passed the examination on my first attempt. This book continues to serve as a valuable reference for my modeling efforts. I recommend this book to anyone seeking UML 2 Certification.__Joseph Starwood

1. What makes this book unique.2. Who this book is NOT for.3. Who would benefit from this book.1. UNIQUEUnlike all other books I have seen on the Unified Modeling Language (UML), this book neither attempts to assist the reader in learning the UML, nor does it attempt to assist the reader in applying the UML. The reader will, of course, learn a great deal about the UML. In fact this book provides a detailed and methodical explanation of the UML meta-model, and may very well be the only book to do so (the only other source for this information, that I am aware of, is the UML Specification itself).2. NOTAs stated above, this book does not assist the reader in learning UML. Most books introduce a small number of notation elements, explain them, and then add to that in a graduated fashion. This is like reading an I-Can-Read book, where core vocabulary is used over and over again, and new words won't be introduced until one picks up the next volume in the series. UML 2 Certification Guide is like reading a text about grammar principles that is written in the language itself, thus command of the language (in this case UML) is expected at the outset.Don't bother looking into this book unless you are already familiar with UML notation, especially UML Class models. Most (if not all) of the notation gets explained eventually, but attempting to follow the presentation with only this text as a guide would invite unnecessary frustration. There are many good books available to learn the UML. Use one of those for that purpose.Some people might be looking for practical advice on how to use the notations they have learned. This is decidedly not the book for you. There is no attempt to demonstrate application beyond the detailed example of the UML itself. Books on methodology exist; these generally depend upon your purpose. Are you a Business Analyst or a Software Engineer? The right book for you is out there, but this isn't it.3. BENEFITI enjoyed this book. I first learned about the Meta-Object Facility (MOF) when reading Model Driven Architecture and Ontology Development, by Gasevic, et al. I have read multiple books that explain how to read or apply the UML. Speaking as an ontology geek, a book that provides a detailed meta-model for the humble lifeline is really cool. So, if you are interested in learning about the UML meta-model, or are already familiar with UML notation, but want a deep-dive into what makes the UML a formal language, I can easily recommend this book.I would like to recommend this book more broadly. The purpose of the book is to prepare for UML Certification (the OCUP). Unfortunately I have never seen a job announcement that mentions OCUP, and requests I have made in professional groups about the utility of the OCUP have been ignored. I can only assume the OCUP is unknown and unused by the general software engineering and business analysis communities, so reading this book for its original purpose is unlikely to have a professional payoff.

Before buying this book, I had no doubt that it would be instrumental in passing my certification exams. I did pass the the Fundamental exam in the first try itself and I don't believe I would've been able to do so if I had not laid hands on this material. Neither do I think there's a book out there that covers UML with the level of detail as this one does. After all, this guide is published by the same Group that sets the UML standards and administers the certification program! I'll be referring back to it again for my Intermediate-level exam. Thanks OMG!

The book is a good guide to the exam. This book helped me to get the fundamental certification. However, I believe that sometimes the reading is quite boring. After the exam I realized that some subjects are not (good) covered in the book. I felt the lack of exercises to practice the concepts as well. Finally, a few tips to help us understand some concepts would be useful. People interested in obtain certification should read this book and practice some mocks on the Internet.

I passed my UML Fundamental Exam using this book as my main text because it was recommended for this exam. But it was a far harder effort than it needed to have been.I dislike this book for its lack of clarity. In particular:1) The translation too often leaves you puzzling. Here is one example including surrounding sentences for context."The entire activity terminates as soon as a token reaches a final node regardless of how many other tokens are still within the activity. Several incoming edges that have only one of them must transport a token. As soon as a token is made available at one of the edges the final node is activated and the activity terminates".What does "Several incoming edges that have only one of them must transport a token" mean?2) Statements too often are wrong. An example is a discussion on p111 about include and exclude relationships that reaches the wrong conclusion.3) Too many figure and diagram references are incorrect. Try to find Figure 2.6.2: it is really Figure 2.122. Figures 2.54 and 2.55 are the wrong way round.4) Primitive Data Types are defined as: 1) Integer, 2) Boolean (you have to search for this one because a typo puts it with Integer), 3) Unlimited Natural. It is a surprise to find in the answer to a question on Primitive Data Types that String should also be included.

I passed the Fundamental exam with a score of 66/80 using this book exclusively. It is very concise and to the point. It has 34 practice questions in the back that help you prepare for the Fundamental exam. The questions are similar to the real exam questions. There are no practice questions for the Intermediate exam. I am now using this book to prepare for the Intermediate exam.

Planning to get UML certified and this was the recommended text.I find the book very complicated to understand, had to take up some classes at a university and it was a lot simpler to gasp the concept.The book is good as a reference if you already have working knowledge, its more of an enhance to the new uml v2 changes.

aufgewärtmtes und übertrieben plakatives unter mitwirkung von uml-kleinmeister und selbstapostel bernd österreicher. m.e. höchstens als katalog von themen zur bestimmung der bandbreite der zertifizierung geeignet.

Excellent OMG OCUP exam prep book, this covers most of the required exam contents if we combined this wil personnal experiences (in UML based system design) this book is very helpful.

As others have said this is not a stand alone teach yourself UML guide but did help me through some exams. I have also used it as a helpful reference guide with some more advanced stuff that isn't in my course material.

Not really the right choice if you are a UML beginner. Definitely for exam prep / study rather than practical application, although that is what it says on the cover so I should have been a bit more astute in my choice.