RE: [xml-dev] IBM's idea off an XML expert

You hit the nail.  The scope of certification relative 
to the scope of XML topics means the course designer 
needs a very precise understanding of what is important 
to any given discipline.  XML is applied to a multi-discipline 
space and unless one focuses on that aspect, certification per se 
can be a statement of broad but potentially shallow knowledge. 

Certification has a place if distinguished from 
education.  Certification should be a precise assertion 
of the understanding of the certified given a well 
scoped topic set itself circumscribed by a precise 
application, not a broad knowledge of a subject.  

I would expect any XML expert to thoroughly *know* XML 1.0.  
I would not expect any XML expert to understand how to 
XMLReader and Writer classes from the .net framework.  
That is a separate certification.  I would expect 
them to have that separate certification or a set 
of such.

A certificate is an assertion.  It is useful for the 
owner of the certificate and the employer to which 
it is presented to vette the assertion.

len

From: Adam Turoff [mailto:]

*All* of that needs to be considered even before you attempt to identify
what XML technologies belong in a certification, and what people should
know about those technologies.