CLA Exam Question

[Daklu]

When I took the CLD, what really caught me off guard was how many more requirements there were in the actual exam than there were in the practice exams. Does the CLA practice exam accurately represent the kind and and quantity of requirements I should expect to see on the real exam?

[jgcode]

Yer, it's pretty similar.

[Mark Smith]

I would agree - I found the CLA exam to pretty much reflect the example exam - right down to the fact that I really needed about eight hours to do each! I found the toughest thing about the CLA was the length but I managed to finish just enough to pass.

Mark

[crelf]

Yer, it's pretty similar.

That's good to know. When I did my CLA it was 10 essay questions, where I had to write (yes, hand writting) responses on a peice of paper (PCs were banned from the room). I have poor hand writting, so I made sure key words were printed (INSTANTIATE, ENCAPSULATE, MODULARIZE, DYNAMIC, etc).

I found the toughest thing about the CLA was the length but I managed to finish just enough to pass.

TWSS.

[Daklu]

I really needed about eight hours to do each!

I'm sure NI purposely makes the problems much bigger than what can reasonably be accomplished in the given time. Why? I dunno... maybe to put us under pressure... maybe so we don't have time to experiment/learn how to do something... maybe because they're sadistic bastards...?

When I did my CLA it was 10 essay questions

I think I would prefer that over a coding test. It's much faster sketching out execution diagrams and state diagrams on paper than on a bd.

[Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden]

I'm sure NI purposely makes the problems much bigger than what can reasonably be accomplished in the given time. Why? I dunno... maybe to put us under pressure... maybe so we don't have time to experiment/learn how to do something... maybe because they're sadistic bastards...?

I think I would prefer that over a coding test. It's much faster sketching out execution diagrams and state diagrams on paper than on a bd.

First time I took it it was a trivia test on LV. There was some coding but not much.

THen they re-did it and it was coding test along with some Qs. If you are not a CS type make sure you know the vocabularly. Since then the recert is supposed to be just questions, but I have not sat for that since they changed the re-cert.

Remember you are being judged on Architecture not coding. Leave the coding for the developer that gets your design.

Ben

[SteveChandler]

I want to ask a question that is not possible to answer but here goes. How hard was the CLD? I know it obviously depends on experience, knowledge and problem solving skills. Was it really really hard, really hard or just hard?

But in seriousness if any of you would mind answering these specific questions that would be great:

1. Did you pass on your first attempt?
2. How much experience did you have prior to taking the test?
3. Did you take the NI courses and if so which ones?
4. Were you confident after the test that you passed?
5. What was your score? (I feel kind of weird asking)
6. Did you finish with any time to spare?
7. Was the project complete? All requirements met?
8. Did you fit everything into a 1024x768 diagram?
9. When did you take the exam?
10. How did you document algorithms? VISIO or something else? Just pencil and paper state charts or does that have to be in the code?
11. How much time did you spend on studying the requirements and planning before starting to code?

For #8 I am thinking that I will just take a hit on style if doing so helps me get more functionality out..

For #9 I heard somewhere that the test recently became more difficult around the time that the new example exams were released.

[Daklu]

1. How hard was the CLD? -- Not technically difficult, just a lot of requirements in a very short amount of time.
2. Did you pass on your first attempt? -- Yep.
3. How much experience did you have prior to taking the test? -- About 3.5 years.
4. Did you take the NI courses and if so which ones? -- Nope.
5. Were you confident after the test that you passed? -- I was much less confident after the test than I was before the test.
6. What was your score? -- Not as high as I expected prior to the exam. I think it was in the 80's but to be honest I don't remember.
7. Did you finish with any time to spare? -- Heh... good one.
8. Was the project complete? All requirements met? -- No. No.
9. Did you fit everything into a 1024x768 diagram? -- Dunno... my monitors aren't that size.
10. When did you take the exam? -- About a year ago.
11. How did you document algorithms? VISIO or something else? Just pencil and paper state charts or does that have to be in the code? -- Comments on the block diagram.
12. How much time did you spend on studying the requirements and planning before starting to code? -- I spent a little over 20 minutes. Then I realized it was taking too long and dove in.

[SteveChandler]

Since I just passed the exam It is only fair that I answer my own questions

1. How hard was the CLD? More difficult than I expected compared to the old practice exams. The new practice exams are much better. Ignore the old ones! The only "difficult" part was the time. No time to think about or do anything else at all. Four hours goes very quick!
2. Did you pass on your first attempt? Nope
3. How much experience did you have prior to taking the test? About two years but my first experience with LV was eight years ago. This two years was before taking any NI classes.
4. Did you take the NI courses and if so which ones? Core1 - Core3 first time (Took the exam within 30 days of Core3), Advanced Architectures, Managing Software Engineering in LabVIEW and OOP (old course format) this time.
5. Were you confident after the test that you passed? Not at all the first time. Much more confident this time.
6. What was your score? (I feel kind of weird asking) I did very well on style and documentation but completely blew it on functionality the first time. This time I was able to get most requirements implemented.
7. Did you finish with any time to spare? Not even close
8. Was the project complete? All requirements met? About 75% this time. First time maybe 2% although many requirements existed in SubVIs. I just didn't have time to put the top-level vi together. Bottom up first time, top down this time.
9. Did you fit everything into a 1024x768 diagram? The first time yes. For the passing exam no.
10. When did you take the exam? First time about seven months ago, this time on March 15
11. How did you document algorithms? VISIO or something else? Just pencil and paper state charts or does that have to be in the code? Simple comments on BD
12. How much time did you spend on studying the requirements and planning before starting to code? About 45 minutes. The last 20 minutes of that included creating FP while thinking about requirements and how to implement them. The first time I started coding within ten minutes.

The first time around I spent way too much effort on style. I set my monitor resolution to 1024x768 and made sure everything could be seen without scrolling. I think this got in the way of the all important functionality category by slowing me down. On the passing exam I didn't worry too much about it. The BD was not huge but did require some horizontal scrolling reflecting the way I normally program. I lost one point on style but it was not for this.

So my advice is to not try so hard in the style category to the extent that it slows you down. Just be reasonable. Create the icons and documentation before creating any code so you don't forget. Same for the front panel control typedef control and indicator descriptions and tip-strips.

[kentwedeking]

Took the CLA Exam last week. I felt that it was very similar to the practice exam (translation ... really similar ). Its strange .. I think there were actually LESS requirements (relatively speaking, like 50 instead of 60 for example) but I think the actual exam overall was quite a bit harder. Eitherway, I'm anxiously anticipating getting my results back so I can schedule my next attempt at it.

I'm curious, how are other people preparing for the CLA, besides of course the sample exam? One of our CLA's here had us focus first on our architecture, and at being able to code up something simple enough to do quickly, but capable enough to meet the requirements of the exam. Once we had done that a couple of times and submitted it for review, we did NI sample CLA exam, and then after that we did a sample exam that Rob created for us to try as well. Focusing on an architecture up front really helped. Most important was understanding the most people will want to GREATLY overcomplicate the code they right for the test. Moral .. . K.I.S.S. ...

[jgcode]

Eitherway, I'm anxiously anticipating getting my results back so I can schedule my next attempt at it.

Hey... ...that's confidence!

I am sure you will be fine, the exam feels harder than it is to pass IMHO.

I'm curious, how are other people preparing for the CLA, besides of course the sample exam?

I prepared by having a game plan, I mean if you are designing and coding as part of your job, you should be getting all the practice you need, right (except for the fact you don't have access to your tools, templates and reuse code etc...)?

I had a chat to Omar before taking the exam and he summed it up best for me: Quite simply, start at a high level and get the framework down, then iterate over it as many times as you can adding detail (code or requirements) keeping in mind you don't have to code it - that's not the point of the exam. So I pretty much followed this top-down approach and it works well.

Cheers

-JG

[John Lokanis]

+1 for the top down approach. I started in the middle, coding the larger modules first and leaving the details for the 'developer' later. But, I ran out of time to do the top level 'controller' code. Only got about 30 mins of work on it before time ran out. Luckily I got enough done to pass.

The hardest part is reading through the requirements and getting an idea of what is required before starting to code. This exam is not designed to be doable in 4 hours. If I had 6 hours, I could have aced it. So, try to use your 4 hours wisely to get the most points. Don't bother worrying about finishing.

Has anyone actually finished in 4 hours? (or at least thought you had finished)

-John

[Daklu]

I'm curious, how are other people preparing for the CLA, besides of course the sample exam?

I didn't... I read through the sample exam, sketched out some thoughts on paper, coded a little bit, but other than that I didn't really do anything special to prepare for the exam. Oh... our local sales rep hosted a one hour conference call with an exam grader. That was very helpful in helping us understand where to spend our time.

Probably the hardest part for me was that the given requirements drift into implementation details instead of focusing on user or non-functional requirements. A big part of an architect's job (IMO) is translating the user and non-functional requirements into implementation details. I had a bit of a hard time grasping the bigger picture of what behavior the customer wanted and felt unnecessarily constrained by the list of requirements given.

[kentwedeking]

I prepared by having a game plan, I mean if you are designing and coding as part of your job, you should be getting all the practice you need, right (except for the fact you don't have access to your tools, templates and reuse code etc...)?

I had a chat to Omar before taking the exam and he summed it up best for me: Quite simply, start at a high level and get the framework down, then iterate over it as many times as you can adding detail (code or requirements) keeping in mind you don't have to code it - that's not the point of the exam. So I pretty much followed this top-down approach and it works well.

so, surprisingly enough ... the stars aligned myself and a coworker both passed our exams :beer_mug:

it was very interesting reading the results, as we both attempted some different things. We both had focused on and practiced building our architectures from scratch multiple times ... that was key. I stayed really high level on the requirements, mainly satisfying them by putting in additional states in my QSM and putting in lots of notes of where stuff would happen and what it would do. Some people had advised me to do LOTS of shell VIs with just the ins and outs defined .... i didn't do that very much. Coming out of it I felt like I did not have enough actual coded detail in my exam, and they would not think I had actually satisfied the requirements I said I had (note ... i actually got done and had "satisfied" and included every requirement tag in the code somewhere). There were some of my requirements that were not covered to the graders satisfaction, but for the most part they felt I had excellent req coverage ... i was stunned ....

either way, its over, the certificate is on the wall, and I have a year and a half or so before I have to start worrying about the recert ...

By the way, does anyone else feels its dumb that NI only offers CLD/CLA shirts in sizes up to XL? i feel cheated ... all that work, and all i get is a shirt i can't wear ....

[John Lokanis]

I didn't even get a shirt! Is there someone I am supposed to call to get it?

[Wire Warrior]

By the way, does anyone else feels its dumb that NI only offers CLD/CLA shirts in sizes up to XL? i feel cheated ... all that work, and all i get is a shirt i can't wear ....

Congrats on passing! Here's one for you and your co-worker . Well I got a XXL CLD shirt recently.

To get my shirt I simply contact Geoff Smith from the NI Certifications dept. and he helped me out.

Matter of fact I wore for the first time just yesterday.

Jason

[kentwedeking]

Well, I'll be contact Geoff very shortly to get my XXL shirt.

Next stop, CLA Summit. Be nice to be in Austin in the winter for once instead of the summer. I think Texas is about the only place I'd rather NOT be in the middle of summer ... as compared to Iowa ...

Congrats on passing! Here's one for you and your co-worker . Well I got a XXL CLD shirt recently.

To get my shirt I simply contact Geoff Smith from the NI Certifications dept. and he helped me out.

Matter of fact I wore for the first time just yesterday.

Jason

[M.F]

Hi everyone, 

First of all, a big thanks for these threads that are a valuable source of information for the CLA candidate. 

I have also experienced a fail in the CLA exam recently and I wanted to share my results and thoughts about the exam. 

I will start with the exam conditions : I found that passing the exam online (especially with the new platform since May 2020) added some challenge. Since you are not allowed to sketch on a paper, it can be more difficult to work on the overall architecture. Besides, I experienced a technical issue with the platform (copy and paste were sometimes not functional on the platform. Following the examiner's advice, I had to refresh the navigator several times to be able to copy and paste the requirements which I found quite annoying for such a time constrained exam. I hope NI will address this issue. I would be interested to know if anyone has taken the exam recently and has experienced the same technical issues)

I got the following results for my exam : 

Total grade : 63.6

Style : 8.2/10 : It seems that some data structures were not well designed which cost me points on style 

Documentation : 13.7/20 : The evaluation comments state that there was a lack of documentation in almost all the modules. I think that I should have spent more time documenting the block diagram than putting documentation on the typedefs that I have defined. 

Requirements coverage : 21.7/30 for a 72.4 % coverage. As discussed by the community, it is not enough to have all the requirements tags in your code. 

Architecture : 20 /40 . It seems that architecture is was costed me the most examination points. I was quite surprised since the overall architecture was more detailed than the sample exam (elevator) . Using a kind of queued message handler architecture, I went into details defining the messaging scheme. All the messages contents were typedefs. I used variants in my communication module but I documented well how this variant is converted back to data ( NI seems to not agree with this, I had a comment saying that a communication module method was not designed/documented, strange ! ) This is much more detailed than the sample exam for the elevator I think, It is really surprising to know that these sample solutions are supposed to get a nearly full grading . I had also a mention on the timing module that was not fully developed. In a sense, this is weird, aren't we supposed to not implement the algorithmic details in this exam? A timer is all but architecture in my understanding. The error handler was also considered incomplete, I guess that I had to go deeper in details and not just put a sending method in the modules. I left the inputs of this method unwired when called in the modules, I guess that was not enough for NI.

The other comments about architecture stated that my modules architecture were not fully detailed. Even though I tried to follow the tip saying that you have to go in detail for some cases ( I did not handle all the buttons in a particular case structure for example ) and put a comment saying to follow this case for the others; I guess that I did not go into enough details in my implementation here too. 

I hope this feedback can help some of you that are willing to take the exam. Indeed, the CLA exam can be challenging since you don't know on which level of detail you should stop. 

Good luck ! 

Mourad

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by M.F