PXL Blog

Update on Attest 2.0….coolness on the way

Feb 26th, 2009 by Dave

I think I’m going to release it as 1.5 first so people can start studying with it. It won’t be the 100% full package that I wanted, but at least if I can get a few mock exams out, that should be a big help, and the rest will come along afterwards. A few people suggested releasing a mini-version as soon as possible, so I think it’s a good idea.

I have to apologize to Attest users for taking so long with getting this out. It’s 100% me working on every aspect of it, and with client workloads and so on, it’s been a rough ride. Anyway, now for the good stuff for those of you waiting:

Attest 1.5 Fun Facts:

It’s written in AIR, as it originally was, although none of you knew that I’ll explain more upon its release
I’d estimate it’s about 85% done with an ETA of 2 weeks roughly. Don’t hold me to that! But I’ve been burning the midnight oil to get it out quickly ( at least most of it )
If you’re a regular shmoe, Attest 1.5 and further versions will cost you nada. It will be released under two Creative Commons licenses (see below for more details)
This release is only part of what I had originally planned for Attest. There will hopefully be much more in the future, and possible expansion to cover other Adobe exams ( depending on interest level, alignment of stars, karma, luck, etc ) but I’m still waiting for a few details to filter through before I go on. Stay tuned…
There will be regular updates, bug fixes, enhancements, and errata corrections for future versions.
Hint: Future versions will include the “learning tool” concept, but this release will be purely the mock exams just like the old version
I’m tired and my brain hurts…

The two Creative Commons licenses for Attest 1.5 will be “Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives” for non-commercial use, and “Attribution No Derivatives” for commercial use. In other words, if you’re not a large telecommunications company, feel free to download and use Attest 1.5 all you like. The economy sucks right now, but if you’re a kick butt Flex developer, you’re in good shape. So if you’re a Flex developer who’s interested in passing the Flex 3 + AIR cert, this is what the doctor ordered.

How Attest is looking right now:
I’m currently testing like mad, double checking my math for scoring ( always a scary thing ), making aesthetic tweaks, still combing over Q’s and A’s, of course those last minute “hey, this would be cool!” kind of ideas that always add time. I actually surprised myself with how involved the code was when I first wrote the app in C#. Translating to AS3 was easy enough, but I had forgotten how complicated some of it was. I don’t want to release crap, so I still want to test until I’m satisfied, and I have my shrinking TODO list that I’m flying through. Hopefully, things will remain as calm as they were for a bit more so I can at least get this part out. This week was very hectic, but by my standards it’s practically been a vacation ( hence my blog posts at 2:00am ).

Some Attest History
When 1.5 is released, keep in mind it will grow to be much bigger. This release will be so I can hurry up and get something solid out there for you all to study. It’s funny in a way, but with all the emails asking about the next version it’s overwhelming ~ ha! No worries. Hope you all enjoy it, as much as taking exams can be enjoyable anyway (I hope it helps).

Got Ideas? Suggestions?
If you have ideas for Attest, questions, concerns, by all means let me know. I really appreciate all the feedback I’ve had since the release of Attest 1.0 in Nov 07, and these future releases will hopefully make Attest users much happier! Literally, almost every day my inbox has at least a few messages about Attest, people letting me know they passed the real Flex exam, praise, comments, scores, and ideas.

Some good people in the past suggested Q’s and A’s of their own, if you have some killer questions/answers and want to see them in the next version, toss them my way. If they’re good and accurate I’ll toss them in and you’ll get full credit for writing them within the app and on the site.

On a side note, I’ve always felt that Adobe never really had enough study material, as opposed to Macromedia back in the day. So if Attest has helped you, if you dig it, if you want more study/learning material specific to Adobe exams and products, be vocal. Now’s your chance to speak your mind. If you’re a Graphic Designer and you want to see a Photoshop practice exam, come forth and be a witness, can I get an amen?

Until then, rest assured I’m giving all the time I can to get this version out as quickly as possible. Best estimate is two weeks, but it could easily flow to 3-4 if I run into unexpected bugs, or client projects ( which have to come first ), or if I don’t get enough beer. Will post any further updates as I move forward.

Posted in Adobe AIR, Adobe Flex, PXL info | 17 Comments

17 Responses to “Update on Attest 2.0….coolness on the way”

on 28 Feb 2009 at 7:59 pm1Bigyan

Purchased and preparing with Attest 1.1 right now. Great news that you’ll have 1.5 out right before I take the actual exam. Looking forward to it…….a big THANK YOU.
on 28 Feb 2009 at 8:12 pm2Dave

It’s getting there, pretty sweet so far too. I just want to test and make sure it’s accurate and of course, still tweaking Q’s/A’s, but soon as I have something that’s ready, I’ll post it up here on the blog and the Attest site.
on 03 Mar 2009 at 3:14 pm3Ken

will this be out anytime this month. I’m looking to take the exam at the end of this month or the beginning of next month
on 03 Mar 2009 at 3:18 pm4Dave

Hey Ken,
Yup, ETA is about two weeks if it stays on it’s current track. But worst case, it’ll be out before the end of the month or I’m a monkey’s uncle
on 03 Mar 2009 at 3:29 pm5Ken

Thanks for the quick reply!

Looking forward to it
on 17 Mar 2009 at 9:17 am6Matt

Hey Dave,
I’m looking forward to using attest when it comes out. I’m working on my own so do you have any recommendations for books to use in preparing for the test?

Thanks
on 17 Mar 2009 at 10:32 am7Dave

Hey Matt,
It’s on the very brink of being released just so frustrating with my workload. I keep getting pulled away from it. Anyway, I got some major league help this time around, Holly Schinsky http://devgirl.wordpress.com/ is currently burning the midnight oil too so we can get Attest released as soon as possible. It’s currently being tested, but very close to release.

Books, I would definitely suggest the Adobe Flex 3 Training from the Source as the best overall guide for Flex 3. It’s not geared towards passing the exams, but it hits on most of what you need to know. That plus reading through the livedocs is your best bet for preparing. The AIR API isn’t huge, so it won’t take long to go through the livedocs examples.

Best bet yet is read those, and then in a week or so you can use Attest, and you’ll rock the cert exam like no man’s business Will be posting more very shortly.
on 17 Mar 2009 at 11:12 am8Matt

Thanks – I’ll have to hunt down a copy. Thanks again for the work you (and Holly) are putting in on attest!
on 18 Mar 2009 at 9:28 am9Ken

personally i like david gassner’s book, the Flex 3 Bible and his training videos through lynda.com
on 18 Mar 2009 at 9:28 am10Ken

and the flex in a week training series at Adobe

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/videotraining/
on 18 Mar 2009 at 9:31 am11Dave

Haven’t read David Gassner’s book yet, but his videos were awesome. And a huge help!

As I write this, Attest is so close to being released my mouth is watering haha! Soon soon…..very soon
on 18 Mar 2009 at 9:33 am12Ken

ahhhh!

don’t do this to me. as i will probably be looking for a new job soon, i want to get my cert asap. I can FEEL IT! lol
on 18 Mar 2009 at 9:38 am13Dave

Haha! Sorry Ken, it’s truly honestly SO ready though. We’re just testing it, polishing up the data, and stupid tweaky stuff.

I’m going to call it 1.5 when we release it, just because there will probably be some minor bugs, but I figured I want to get it out as quick as possible because I’m so late as it is. At least once it goes live, we can keep fixing the little bugs (thins like the HTML frames showing up in the results page) not really bugs, just annoyances.

I’m hoping for a release of 1.5 this week, or over the weekend, but worst case during next week. And like I said, any kind of annoying little bugs, just let Holly or I know and we’ll get on it soon as we can after it’s released. Of course we’re going to enhance it anyway, but we’ll maintain a TODO list. It’s pretty tight right now though
on 18 Mar 2009 at 9:39 am14Ken

thanks. I’ll be keeping an eye out for it
on 20 Mar 2009 at 12:27 am15Leonard

question Save,
Will you provide a way to purchase a license to use 1.5 upon release?
or do I need to get license from 1.1 in order to use it?
Thanks,
Leonardo
ps: haha Im just one of the tons waiting for ATTEST 1.5
on 20 Mar 2009 at 2:03 pm16Dave

Hey Leonard,
Nope, no need to buy anything. Attest 1.5 and moving forward will be free for individual developers. $0.00
on 27 Jan 2011 at 11:09 pm17Buy American…but don’t pay for Attest 1.5 though « David Flatley

[...] things but mostly I’ve been cranking on Attest 1.5. It’s built in Adobe AIR (see PXL blog for the full scoop). This is current being tweaked and tested, and will be available shortly. The [...]