How I became low-code certified with OutSystems

This month, I followed in the footsteps of many other OutSystems developers and completed the exam to become a certified Associate Reactive Developer. This exam focuses on the fundamentals of OutSystems reactive web and mobile application development, and is for developers new to the OutSystems platform.

However, just because it is for new OutSystems developers, does not mean it’s an easy exam. Even with my traditional development experience, I had to study to be successful. Even though OutSystems is a low-code platform, it requires understanding of data structures and relationships, building component-based user interfaces, constructing business logic and control flows, and understanding events and application lifecycle management.

Here are some of my takeaways from preparing for the exam, and tips to help you prepare for and pass your own certification journey.

Note: I completed the OutSystems 11 certification, however, many of these same lessons apply to the Associate Developer ODC exam as well.

Understanding the Exam
Learning the Material
Preparing for the Exam
Continuing Your Journey

Understanding the exam

The first step in knowing what you’re getting yourself into! Even if you’ve taken certification exams before, each once will have its specific format and approaches to testing your knowledge of the material. Start by understanding what the exam will entail so you can best prepare.

Exam Topic Breakdown

The Exam Details on the certification page includes a PDF entitled “Detail Sheet”, which contains important information about the exam. The exam consists of 50 questions, and a 70% score (35 correctly answered questions) is required to pass.

Pay close attention to the Exam Topics breakdown chart in this document. I referred to it often, as it contains what percentage of questions are asked about certain topics. I used this to develop my study plan.

My strategy was to start with the topics that had the highest percentage of questions on the exam. These include Screen Widgets (16%), Aggregates (12%), Logic Flows & Exception Handling (10%), and so on. After my initial completion of the Developer School and Training (more on that later), I went back through the topics and ensured I had a strong understanding of the highest percentage topics before moving on to the next one. This meant I was spending my study time efficiently.

Question Format

It’s also important to know what to expect from the question format. This is where the sample exam, also included in the Exam Details, is helpful.

All questions on the exam are multiple choice, with four options and only a single correct answer. Many times, two or more of the options will seem very similar, or like they could both be correct. It is important to read the question and options very carefully to identify which answer is the right one.

Many questions will ask “Which of the following is correct?” or “Which of the following is the best way to do something?”, and these can be tricky. Sometimes an option will be correct, but it is not the best answer. Take your time and make sure you understand what the question is asking.

Applied Knowledge

The questions on the exam are focused on applied knowledge. This means that you will not see questions like, “What is an entity?” or “What are the three types of joins in an aggregate?” Instead, you will be presented with scenarios, and must apply what you learned about entities and joins to find a solution. You may be asked what is the expected output for a screenshot of an aggregate, or asked how to change a given logic flow to produce a different result.

This is why memorizing terms from the training is not enough. You will need to fully understand the concepts of OutSystems and get hands-on practice with building reactive web and mobile applications to be successful.

Learning the material

Fortunately, OutSystems provides you with all the resources you need to learn the material for the Associate Reactive Developer certification exam. Whether you prefer live training or online training, OutSystems has options for you. To complete the training, make sure to sign up for a free Personal Environment to explore the platform, complete exercises, and build applications.

Developer School

I attended an OutSystems Developer School to prepare for the exam. This free program from OutSystems is for those with previous development experience who want to learn OutSystems quickly and take the Associate Reactive Developer exam. It is a great option if you already have development experience and are committed to spending 35+ hours on live, remote training.

The training takes place over two weeks, and includes live instruction, a chance to ask questions of an OutSystems expert, additional exercises, and hands-on project work. It also includes a certificate voucher to take the exam for free as long as you meet the participation requirements. The voucher must be used within 30 days so you should be prepared to dedicate time to studying immediately after the school completes.

There are sessions every quarter in three regions. You can apply online here for an upcoming session.

Online Training

Everything covered in the exam is in the free online training under the “Becoming a Web Developer” Guided Path. I actually completed the training in addition to the Developer School to reinforce my learning and to complete the additional quizzes and exercises included in the online training.

I highly recommend completing the training even if you do attend a Developer School. The more you expose yourself to the material and gain hands-on experience with Service Studio and the OutSystems platform, the more you will understand how to actually apply the knowledge in a way that is needed to answer the exam questions.

Hands-on Learning

Speaking of hands-on learning, from my experience, only completing the exercises in the online training is not enough to truly cement the concepts in your brain. Especially if you only follow the how-to instructions. I highly recommend spending time in Service Studio building out applications on your own so that you can explore the platform and learn how to solve problems on your own.

Decide on an application you’d like to build, and work through the concepts you are learning in the training. Start by adding some data entities and creating relationships between them. Then create some screens using widgets, and display data with aggregates. Add form validation and use Client and Server actions to update data in your database. Create a block to reuse in your application, and leverage an event with a handler. Slowly add features to your application based on what you are learning at that time. This will build the experience you need to recall the information when you’re nervous during the exam.

For my study, I actually built a flashcard application to help me study. I wrote practice questions based on what I was learning, and then built an app in OutSystems to display the questions and answers, and keep track of my score. This helped to reinforce all the concepts I was learning and give me hands-on practice.

Preparing for the exam

As you get closer to the date of your exam, there are some tactical approaches to help you best prepare.

Question Practice

You’ll definitely want to get some practice answering questions in the same format as the exam. This is a little difficult because the sample exam included in the Exam Details only has 20 questions. However, I was able to pass the exam without using paid practice tests from other sites by creating my own practice questions.

Now that I have actually taken the exam, I realize that the practice questions I wrote did not quite match up with the difficulty of the real exam. However, by going through the process of writing questions, I forced my brain to think about the material in different ways, and how I would apply that knowledge in a test format. This helped me get additional practice answering test questions, even if they were not exactly the same as what ended up being on the exam.

What to Expect

If you are taking the exam via an online proctor, read the instructions very carefully, as there are strict security measures you must follow. You must have a dedicated space to take the exam where nobody will enter (including any pets!) You will also be expected to show your desk and the room on camera, turn out your pockets, and more. Do not take these requirements lightly – they can and will stop your exam for any suspected violations.

Keep in mind that once you start the exam, you will not be able to leave the camera or take a break until you are finished. You also cannot have any water or food, so make sure you are ready before starting.

Note: The exam experience may be different if you complete it at a testing center. Read the instructions when you schedule!

Test Tips

Once the exam begins, there is a tutorial that shows you how to use the exam platform. I recommend using the strikeout and flag features to your advantage during the test.

The strikeout feature lets you mark answer options that you think are incorrect. This does not actually prevent you from selecting it as an answer, it is just a visual cue to help you narrow down the available choices. I recommend using this to strike out the answer options that you know right away are wrong. This can help you focus on reading the questions carefully.

You can also flag questions that you’d like to return to before submitting the exam. This is helpful in two ways. First, you can mark questions that you aren’t confident in your answer, and then come back to review. This can be helpful in the beginning of the exam when you’re nervous, or, you may see something in a different question that jogs your memory about a topic covered in a previous question.

I also used the flag feature to help me keep track of my potential score. I marked the questions where I wasn’t confident in my answer. As I progressed through, I periodically calculated how many of the questions I had flagged vs. how many questions I had answered. I knew I needed a 70% to pass, and this helped me gauge how I was performing against that benchmark.

Overall, take your time. Read each question and the options carefully, review all the information on screen shots, and go back to previous questions if needed. You have two hours for the exam, so use it wisely, and good luck!

Continuing your journey

Once you’ve passed the exam, you are a certified Associate Reactive Developer! It’s a great achievement that marks the start of your low-code journey with OutSystems, but it’s just the beginning. A good next step is to focus on specializations in Front-end, Mobile, or Web, or pursue the Associate Tech Lead certification. Whatever path you choose, OutSystems has training resources and a strong community of developers to help support you.

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