SAS base programming/programming fundamentals

[Parvathychand]

Hello,

   I'm a fresher and starting to learn SAS. I have completed the Coursera SAS programmer professional certificate and ready to take up the exam. I am stuck with deciding upon which exam to pick, either the Programming fundamentals or Base programming . I have no experience in programming before. Base programming requires less than 6months experience in writing programs. Please suggest!

[quickbluefish]

Have you looked at practice problems / exams for these two?  I think Base Programming is the one I see most often on people's resumes.  

[Parvathychand]

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes I do take the practice exam. Is that enough ? Is the course covers all the essential topics. Or should I get the prep guide.?

[Cynthia_sas · Accepted solution]

Hi:

  The difference is that the Base Programming Specialist certification credential is a performance-based exam. That means you MUST write programs in order to answer the questions on the exam. By comparison, the Fundamentals certification exam is all multiple choice and short answer questions. There is not any performance-based part to the Fundamentals exam.

  Whether you need the Prep Guide depends on how you did on the Practice Exam. If you got top scores on the Practice Exam, then you might not need the Prep Guide. The recommended classes to prepare you for both of these certification exams are Programing 1 and Programming 2 classes. Those are the names of the 2 classes as outlined on our web site. When we set up the Specialization program with Coursera, they had a requirement for our names on our e-learning platform to be DIFFERENT from the course names on their platform.

  So when we teach the Programming 1 class, Coursera offers the class in the Specialization under the title Getting Started with SAS Programming and when we teach the Programming 2 class, Coursera offers the class in the Specialization under the title Doing More with SAS Programming.

  So if you finished all of the classes in the Coursera Specialization, then you have studied all the courses. Coursera also has an addition set of courses -- Preparing for the SAS Programming Certification Exam and Practicing for the SAS Programming Certification Exam. We have a similar Review course offered under a different title on our web site.

  I think that the Prep Guide is a good study guide to help you prepare for either of the exams, especially if you feel like you need more practice questions to help you prepare.

Cynthia

[Parvathychand]

Thank you for the help