Your most important questions answered

Foundation Level

How is the curriculum at CPSA-Foundation Level being developed further? Is it possible to take part in the devel­opment process?
Within the iSAQB, the Foundation Level working group is committed to further development and updating of the CPSA-Foundation Level curriculum. Together, the experts of the working group contribute suggestions for improvement, and evaluate change notices, which all interested parties can post as “GitHub Issues” in the public repository at https://github.com/isaqb-org/curriculum-foundation/issues. Each release cycle is two years. Changes in the curricula usually affect existing training courses of training providers as well as the current exam questions. All training providers and licensed certification bodies will be notified of any changes well in advance of the release of a new curriculum.
What does the Foundation Level curriculum include?

The CPSA‑F (Foundation Level) consists of the following parts:

  1. Basics of software architecture, role and task of software architects
  2. Description and communication of software architectures
  3. Design and development of software architecture
  4. Architecture and quality
  5. Tools for software architects
  6. Examples of software architectures

 

Part 1–5 are relevant to the CPSA‑F certification exam.

The detailed learning content and learning objectives can be found in the official curriculum.

Which requirements must I fulfil to access Foundation Level certification?

Participants should have the following knowledge and/or experience:

  • At least 18 months of practical experience in software development, acquired by programming various projects or systems outside of education.
  • Knowledge of and practical experience in at least one higher programming language.
  • Basics of modelling and abstraction.
  • Basics of UML (class, package, component and sequence diagrams) and their relation to source code.
  • Practical experience in technical documentation, especially in the documentation of source code, system designs or technical concepts.

Helpful for the understanding of some concepts are also:

  • Knowledge of object orientation
  • Practical experience in at least one object-oriented programming language
  • Practical experience in the design and implementation of distributed applications, such as client/server systems or web applications

 

We consider it useful to prepare for the CPSA‑F exam by attending an accredited training course – but in general you can also take a CPSA‑F exam without training.

Who may offer and conduct CPSA-Foundation Level training?
In order to be able to offer and conduct training courses, an accreditation by the iSAQB is required. That means that training providers commit themselves to the accreditation conditions of the iSAQB. For more details, please see our accreditation info page.

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