Hey @Mark Takata (Adobe) - Is the ACP workshop/certification Adobe's offering at Summit this year not the same they came up with last year after they launched ACF 2021?

The workshop/cert is the takes deep breath Adobe Certified Professional: Adobe ColdFusion certification. | It has been around like one or two years. Myself & a few others built it in February 2020 right before the pandemic, but I'm not sure when it "officially" replaced the ColdFusion Specialist cert. However, it should be noted, this is the same cert you can get online right now, just in a classroom setting. It includes the same videos and all that. So if you already have the ACP:AC then you're good. If you have the CFS, this is a substantial upgrade in difficulty from that cert.

So the exam I took last August is in fact the exact same exam they're going to offer at Summit then? There was some confusion on the Modernize or Die podcast and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't giving them the wrong info

Yes, if you took this last August, this should be the same cert. It has not changed, nor been updated (I believe). When CF2023 launches next year we will likely update the cert to utilize and test for some of the new stuff that goes in, but no plans in place for that yet.

yeah but how does it compare to my “Macromedia Certified Advanced ColdFusion 5 Developer” certificate from 2002? 🤪

That one is WAY cooler. And also matches my 1/4 zip I'll be bringing for those chilly vegas nights

So let's be clear: there's the one that was released initially at the CF Summit 2019, which Nolan wrote. That's the CF Specialist one, or as you say CFS. (Nolan blogged about it at the time, as did Adobe.) Now you're saying that just a couple of months later (Feb 2020), you and others created yet another, now calling it ACP:CF? And it's a "substantial upgrade in difficulty" over the one Nolan offered? I will say that the list of topics offered for this "new" one doesn't seem that different from the Adobe post above (that last link is what's offered from the "curriculum" tab of the current Adobe CF cert page). As for why I press this, besides wanting to be sure we're all on the same page, is that the reason David (@David Belanger) asked about this is that, yes, there has been talk in the community (and I thought it was coming from Adobe) that what was coming really WAS a new one...not one offered since 2020, and not the same as the one from 2019. It was indeed supposed to be "harder" even than that current one, and to have far more video (I heard like 50 hours, vs the 10-15 of the current one). So I hear you trying to clarify things, saying there is "no new one" (but there may be an update for 2023), but can you please clarify for everyone exactly what is the difference between the content in the CFS one and the "new" ACP:CF one? BTW, it's quite unfortunate to see the ACP acronym used again for certs. That acronym has long been used also for the Adobe Community Professional program, which is not a cert program. Indeed, this debate was raised and resolved years ago (even having nothing to do with CF), but I see that in mid-2021 Adobe went back to referring to their cert programs as ACP. Oh well. Just fodder for confusion. Spilt milk/water under the bridge, at this point. Again the more important point is how these two recent CF certs differ, if at all really. We'll need something firm to point folks to, as anyone with CFS will wonder about the new ACP. (And it seems the talk of a "new new, really harder" one is misinformation. At least that seems settled from what Mark has said.)

OK, I'm currently not working, but I'm just going to answer this simply: The Adobe Certified Professional: Adobe ColdFusion (course outline here: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/166653-courseoutline) was a brand new, fully redesigned (with help from a professional certification development firm) certification that was, by design, a significant difficulty bump from the "specialist" cert. That one was designed by Nolan's firm in partnership with Adobe. The ACP:ACF was designed by myself, Nolan, Dave F. and a team from Adobe, in partnership with the cert development firm. The difference was not only a wider array of people working on it, it was the use of proven, scientific methods of ensuring a well balanced test. Also, we made vastly more questions than are in a single test, as the system uses an algorithm to pick randomly from sets of questions (to ensure coverage) so that the test of the two people next to you will be different than yours. It includes 50+ videos. The previous "Specialist" cert included 20 videos. Period. Done. The new cert has zero content directly carried over from the Specialist cert. We, literally, started with a blank canvas & spent a week staring at each other across a table in a Napa hotel's food court area until I was fairly sure either @nolanerck or @dfgrumpy would shiv me (or possibly Elishia lol). So, TL:DR version If you have the ACP:ACF you have the latest version. If you have the Specialist, you can (and, imo, should) take the ACP:ACF.

Sweet, thanks. I'd argue that if I was unclear on this, perhaps many others would be (given how closely I try to stay up on such things, to share with others). I could write something up, or maybe you or at someone at Adobe may already be doing so. Just let me know.

@Mark Takata (Adobe) Just to be clear. Shivving is never off the table. See ya in Vegas.. 😉

I hear the lake is a little low near vegas, you may want to hold off until there's more water to dump the body in.

Dave is joking. He doesn't need a shiv lol. His body is a registered weapon in all 50 states & Guam. 😂😂😂

Well I must say that this was definitely the first time I've ever had to certify that I took a valid certification before 😉 Thanks for the clearing it all up @Mark Takata (Adobe)!

I'm certifiable, so I can relate. 😉