CAD certification prep — studying for Certified Application Developer exam

The testing methodology questions focused a lot on when to use different testing types (unit vs. integration vs. system) and how to structure test coverage. That section is more nuanced than it looks — worth dedicated study time.

Four years of real development experience gives you a massive advantage on the application scenarios. Don't underestimate how much your practical instincts will help even on theoretical questions — usually one or two answers are obviously wrong.

I found that writing out the definitions of design patterns in plain English — not from memory but in my own words — helped me answer the theoretical questions faster. The exam sometimes words things in textbook language that's easy to overthink.

The quality metrics section is genuinely dry but it's a fixed set of concepts. Cyclomatic complexity, cohesion vs. coupling, and maintainability index — learn the formulas and the thresholds and you'll handle most of those questions.