Customer Reviews

Certified Macromedia ColdFusion MX Developer Study Guide

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4 star:		(1)
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Every ColdFusion developer is well aware of the fact that you simply can't go wrong with a book from Ben Forta. This is not only a guide for the certification exams but a wonderful quick reference that will allow the reader to review everything about ColdFusion in just 400 pages.
It also definitely recommended to people that plan to take the certification; if you manage to do well with the questions at the end of each chapter, you will have no problem becoming certified. The book also comes with a 15% discount on the exam, making it an excellent deal

With this book and some real-world experience in ColdFusion you should be able to pass the Macromedia exam without a problem. Don't get me wrong - the exam isn't easy - but Mr Forta covers all of the relevent parts in focused chapters that cover what is needed to pass the exam and excel in CF. After getting an Advanced level certification last month, I find I'm still using this book as a reference on day-to-day stuff. Highly recommended.

This book does a good job of giving you information on every possible topic of the certification exam. I used the original study guide to take and pass the first exam. This book includes just about everything in the first book, and goes into topics that are relaevent for MX (i.e. CFCs, XML, Flash intergration, etc.). If you want answers in a few pages vs. a few chapters, then buy this book.

Ben Forta's deep experience and practical application overflows from the pages of this book that I highly recommend. Of the dozens of computer books I've ever read, this one kept me astounded me with its perfect-sized chapters, handy reference and cross-reference segments, and the well-written pages. Not only is Ben Forta a good writer, he's an outstanding teacher.
Clarke Schroeder
Advanced Macromedia ColdFusion Certified

This is a very well-written study-guide. It gets to the point without getting too wordy. It could serve as a model for other study guides. But, I do have a few minor gripes. First, some of the pages were printed kind of blurry, a kind of shadow image. Second, there is too much preaching about what the author feels are best practices, some of which I question. Best practices questions are not on the exam, at least the one I took, and thus should be left out of a study guide except as perhaps small footnotes. There were also a few minor typos, but being a niche market I can forgive that for technical books.

This is pretty much the only material you need to pass the certification. I was thinking of getting the exam buster as previous reviewer suggested, but exam buster does not promise same day delivery of their products, and with the exam one day away, I had only this guide to rely on.

Here is the approach I took that might work for you as well if you are pressed for time: Work on the end of chapter exercises first, mark all the questions that you are unsure of, if you have the time, go back and read the chapters and correct your own mistakes (I skipped this one because of time issue), and finally check the answers at the back. Note all the ones you were unsure of or didn't get right and studied the reasons provided with each answer. If you don't feel confident of the topic or you have made enough mistakes in the questions, read that chapter.

Before I read the guide, I scored a 70% using Ben's site. After a day of going through the guide using the "algorithm" above, I got an Advanced certification the next day. It goes to show you how good the guide is. One thing to be aware of, some answers are not correct (ran into about 4-5 incorrect answers at the back of the book), thankfully the answer analysis are correct most of the time so you can catch any mistakes in the answers the book provides. Do Ben a favor and get this book, he really deserves the royalty.

This is a very good book, however the coupon for 15% off of the exam is no longer valid. It expired December 31st of 2003.