So I've been working with Apache Cassandra for over a year now and recently I decided to step up my game and get certified. And guess what? I passed Datastax's Professional Certification on Apache Cassandra! The exam was purely theoretical, which means it didn't ask me to calculate things like "partition size" and stuff.
Datastax recommends taking two courses for this certification, but to be honest, I don't think that's enough. I'd suggest going through the documentation as well. The Datastax documentation is in-depth and super helpful. Plus, reading the documentation will give you a better understanding of the concepts.
The only downside was that most of the questions were on the foundations of Cassandra and not on data modeling. And that's a bit of a bummer because Cassandra's data modeling is completely different from traditional SQL data modeling. In my opinion, the exam should have more questions on data modeling.
But enough about that. Here's how I prepared for the exam and I hope it helps you too:
- Complete the course DS201: DataStax Enterprise Foundations of Apache Cassandra™. This course covers the concepts of distributed architecture, duplication, consistency, and internal architecture. Make sure to give yourself enough time to understand the concepts. And if you have the time, I'd recommend taking the complementary course DS210 as well.
- Complete the course DDS220: Data Modeling. This course is a blast! Not many questions were asked from this course, but concepts like Chebotko diagrams and calculating partition size are really important. This course will make you a better Cassandra developer.
- Read Database Internals. This is a super helpful resource that covers everything you need to know about Cassandra's internal workings.
- Read Database Architecture. This resource will give you a solid understanding of Cassandra's architecture and how it works.
Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, I highly recommend taking the courses from Datastax. The material is top-notch and the instructors are awesome.
So that's it from me. Good luck with your Cassandra certification journey and have fun learning!
Cheers!