Software Architecture: Principles and Practices Examination

To ensure continued excellence in software architecture practices, the SEI objectively validates a student's understanding of software architecture before students are eligible to receive professional certificates in software architecture, become certified to teach SEI software architecture courses, or become certified to lead SEI Authorized ATAM evaluations. This includes understanding of enterprise, system, and software architectures; the architecture business cycle; quality attribute requirements; architectural patterns and tactics; designing and documenting software architectures; architecture evaluation; the impact of COTS on software architecture; and software product line architectures.

This validation exam is required for software architecture professionals who wish to pursue the following SEI credentials:

• Software Architecture Professional certificate
• ATAM Evaluator Professional certificate
• Software Architecture: Principles and Practices (SAPP) Instructor certification
• Documenting Software Architectures (DSA) Instructor certification (scheduled for release Spring 2009)
• ATAM Leader Certification (scheduled for release Spring 2009).

Participants must achieve a minimum passing score of 75% for an SEI Certificate. Candidates pursuing an SAPP Instructor certification must achieve a minimum of 85% accuracy on the exam. Candidates are limited to three exam attempts within a one year period.

About the Examination
The exam is based on information found in the SEI Software Architecture: Principles and Practices course materials and in the course textbook, Software Architecture in Practice (2nd edition), by Len Bass, Paul Clements, and Rick Kazman.

Exam Specifications
The two-hour exam consists of 96 multiple choice questions. Each question has either four or five possible answers, only one of which is correct. The exam covers the following topic areas:

• Enterprise and System Architecture
• Software Architecture
• Architectural Patterns
• Reference Models
• Reference Architectures
• The Importance of Software Architecture
• Architectural Structures
• The Architectural Business Cycle
• Understanding Quality Attributes
• Quality Attribute Scenarios
• Quality Attribute Workshop
• Architectural Tactics
• Architectural Views
• Architecture Design
• Attribute Driven Design
• Architecture Evaluation
• Architecture Trade-off Analysis Method
• Architecture Mismatch
• Software Product Lines
• Architecture-related Case Studies

Exam Registration for SAPP Course Attendees
After you have completed the SAPP course, you can take the exam at your convenience through our testing services provider at a testing location near you. The exam administration fee is $150.00 USD. To begin your registration, please submit a request by email to certification-info@sei.cmu.edu. After you have received an acknowledgement from the SEI, you may schedule your exam at any time online at http://www.webassessor.com/sei.  You can take the exam at one of hundreds of testing locations throughout the world.

Exam Registration for Candidate SAPP Instructors and SEI-Certified SAPP Instructor Renewal
SEI-Certified or Candidate SAPP Instructors who wish to register for the SAPP exam should also submit a request by email to: certification-info@sei.cmu.edu. You will receive additional information regarding test registration from the SEI Certification staff. Candidates are limited to three exam attempts within a one-year period. The exam administration fee is $150.00 USD. Candidates who take exams through our online testing services providers will be notified of their scores immediately. Candidates who take exams administered via paper and pencil will receive their scores in 10-14 business days.