Guide Rating -

Layout, Writing, and Style

The Dummies series has been so successful, it will come as no surprise to hear that the layout is excellent. Extensive use of tips, shortcuts, tables and other concise ways of presenting the critical information needed for the exam makes for a very effective study tool. The first thing you will see when opening the book is a cheat sheet. Many people jot notes down to cram with prior to an exam and this is a great addition that includes many of the difficult to remember acronyms and statistics. There is both an assessment quiz at the beginning of each chapter to test your current knowledge, as well as review questions at the end of each chapter to test your exam knowledge. Answers immediately follow both and include good explanations and references.

The tone of writing is conversational and easy to understand. Some of the jokes and puns are a bit corny, but overall, the book is clear and to the point. The CIW certification is vendor-neutral, which makes for a very general set of exams, and as the first level of certification, the Foundations exam is possibly the worst when it comes to this type of generalization. As a result, the book is forced to gloss over several subjects in the interest of brevity. I found myself heading to the web for some background research on topics that I was not already intimately familiar with.

For the most part, you should already be pretty web-savvy to take the CIW Foundations and this book gives a great heads-up on what will be on the exam. In fact, you can expect to see the words "this will be on the exam" several times throughout. If you need more information on a subject, there are several free resources available, many of which are pointed out in the book or on the CD.

Exam Coverage

The CIW test objectives are included in the first chapter and the book continually points out exactly what you can expect to see on the exam. The practice questions are a bit easier than those on the real thing, but certainly get you into testing mode.

CD-ROM

If you want some Macromedia software demos, then you will love this CD. Install Flash, Dreamweaver, and others for a quick trial. Several other programs are also included (FTP & utilities programs). Once you get past all of this, there is a handy test engine with 298 CIW Foundations practice questions. Although not nearly as sophisticated as test engines like Transcender or SelfTest, this does a good job of tossing questions at you and grading your answers. Considering the price of the book and CD combined, it's a good deal.

The Verdict

With this book and some experience with Internet technologies, you will be able to pass the CIW Foundations exam with flying colors. Take advantage of the practice questions and force yourself to read even the topics that are so familiar as to be boring so that you know exactly what to expect.

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