Post date: Oct 27, 2010 9:52:30 PM
(here, there are some useful notes that I found when I was preparing myself for the exam)
I took the exam in October 2010. My udergrad areas were Software Engineering and Data Structure.
How long do you need to study?
1 to 3 month
What would be useful for Software Engineering exam?
*This solution works only if you have passed some SE courses during your undergrad and grad studies:
1-There are about 8 instructors at CS dept for SE course (COMP 354). I suggest you find their slides and some exams and review all of them. You will see each of them has his own perpective. In average each prof. has about 200 slides but dont worry. Since you know most of them, sometimes you can review more than 200 pages in a few hours.
2-While you are reviewing the slides, you might find some challenging subjects such as types of test, Complexity graphs etc. Spend time to learn them by reading the slides and also solving some sample questions. Focus on those problems that are in the list of subjects (Usually Halina gives you the a paper for each course).
3-The suggested book is so challenging. There are lots of information but most of the instructors do not cover all of them. So be smart and review the book or its slides to get familiar with its terminology (focus on Halina's paper).
4-You should know UML, white boxt testing, black box testing, Equivalent class partioning etc. the test case complexity metric (I forgot its precise name!).
You should know the differences between methodologies and their advantages
5-Try to attend the COMP 354 class.
What would be useful for Data Structure exam?
1-The book and its slides are the best source of information for you.
2-To have a better understanding about the exam level, it is better to find the previous Undergrad exams and also attend the course
3-First read the book (Take note), solve all of the problems after each chapter.
4-When you finnished the book, Start reviewing the slides.
Note1: The terminology of the book, slides and concordia materials might be different especifically for ADTs.
Note2: There are a few algorithms in the slides which are not in the book and vice versa.
5-Try to solve the previous sample exams and the book problems as much as you can. Solve, Repeat, Solve, ....
6-Try Youtube videos if you do not know how an algorithm works.
7-Book slide:http://ww0.java4.datastructures.net/handouts/
8-Book problem hints: http://ww0.java4.datastructures.net/hints/
If there is any mistake or suggestion please leave me a comment.