How to Get Cloudera Spark and Hadoop Developer Certification

hadoop developer certification

Overview of the Certification

Cloudera is a company that specializes in mega data collections built around the Apache Hadoop platform to create what it calls “enterprise data hubs.” Such hubs enable customers to create information-driven organizations, where Cloudera provides a platform for enterprise-ready data management. This platform is designed to provide the tools to extract the most value from your customer data.

Although Hadoop is a free, open-source platform, Cloudera adds substantial value by providing strong security, policy-driven data governance, formal system management, product support and lots of important system integrations to bring all data sources together under its umbrella. Cloudera offers enterprise and express versions of its Cloudera Distribution. This includes Cloudera Apache Hadoop, usually abbreviated CDH, with varying license models. It provides a no-charge, unsupported download of core CDH software tool(1).

Recommended Articles ;

A Step by Step Guide on How to Get Cloudera’s Data Analyst Certification

A Guide for Getting AWS Developer – Associate Certification

About the Exam

Cloudera’s comprehensive view of the importance of qualified big data talent shines through the architecture and elements of the company’s current certification offerings. The company currently offers four professional certifications at two levels.

Cloudera Certified Associate (CCA):

  • CCA Spark and Hadoop Developer
  • CCA Administrator
  • CCA Data Analyst

There are no prerequisites required to take any Cloudera certification exam. The CCA Spark and Hadoop Developer exam (CCA175) follows the same objectives as Cloudera Developer Training for Spark and Hadoop and the training course is an excellent preparation for the exam.

[ Read: 15 Top Paying IT Certifications in 2020 ]

Skills Required for the Certification

Transform, Stage, and Store

Convert a set of data values in a given format stored in HDFS into new data values or a new data format and write them into HDFS.

  • Load data from HDFS for use in Spark applications
  • Write the results back into HDFS using Spark
  • Read and write files in a variety of file formats
  • Perform standard extract, transform, load (ETL) processes on data using the Spark API

Data Analysis

Use Spark SQL to interact with the metastore programmatically in your applications. Generate reports by using queries against loaded data.

  • Use metastore tables as an input source or an output sink for Spark applications
  • Understand the fundamentals of querying datasets in Spark
  • Filter data using Spark
  • Write queries that calculate aggregate statistics
  • Join disparate datasets using Spark
  • Produce ranked or sorted data

Configuration

This is a practical exam and the candidate should be familiar with all aspects of generating a result, not just writing code.

  • Supply command-line options to change your application configuration, such as increasing available memory

CCA175 is a remote-proctored exam available anywhere, anytime. CCA175 is a hands-on, practical exam using Cloudera technologies. Each user is given their own CDH6 (currently 6.1.1) cluster pre-loaded with Spark 2.4. All websites, including Google/search functionality and access to Spark external packages is disabled.

Benefits of Hadoop Developer Certification

  • The Hadoop certification examinations would not definitely ask for specifications about the Cloudera Hadoop distribution or any other Hadoop vendor in specific. This certification is most valuable as it puts your Hadoop skills to test irrespective of the Hadoop distribution that you use. The exam itself focuses on several scenario based exams which means you have to study about the scenarios that are likely to arise in Hadoop rather than just facts and statements. Employers know that every candidate who has cleared the exam has the necessary knowledge and abilities to run Hadoop in practical scenarios. 
  • For most of the Hadoop job postings, Cloudera’s Hadoop Certification is requested as a requirement. Professionals with a Cloudera Hadoop Certification are known to get pay hikes up to 3 times of their peers who are not in the Hadoop ecosystem. 
  • Hadoop is a complex nut to crack and it has its own challenges in learning on your own and in excelling it in your first attempts. You need to enroll yourself into a comprehensive hands-on Hadoop training session which fits in with all the industry expert’s standards. 
  • Taking this certification proves to the employers that you know how to work with Spark and in the Hadoop platforms. It proves that you have the necessary skills to work with Big Data and can add valuable contributions to the team. It is a validation of your skills in the field of data.

About the Certification Process

According to Cloudera,

  • Number of Questions: 8–12 performance-based (hands-on) tasks on Cloudera Enterprise cluster. See below for full cluster configuration
  • Time Limit: 120 minutes
  • Passing Score: 70%
  • Language: English
  • Price: USD $295

Each CCA question requires you to solve a particular scenario. In some cases, a tool such as Impala or Hive may be used. In most cases, coding is required.

Your exam is graded immediately upon submission and you are e-mailed a score report within three days of your exam. Your score report displays the problem number for each problem you attempted and a grade on that problem. If you fail a problem, the score report includes the criteria you failed (e.g., “Records contain incorrect data” or “Incorrect file format”). We do not report more information in order to protect the exam content.

Salary Prospects

Worldwide revenues for Big Data and Business Analytics solutions will reach $260 billion in 2022 with a CAGR of 11.9% as per International Data Corporation (IDC). The average salary for a Cloudera certified Spark and Hadoop Developer is 109000 USD as per payscale. Software engineers had the lowest salaries of them all at 85000 USD while data scientists made the most at 165000 USD. Of course, the salaries depended on the experience that the professionals had and the area of specialization for them and what they were working as.

Where to Get Online Resources for Cloudera Certified Spark and Hadoop Developer Certification?

There are several training providers for the certification. Cloudera offers a lot of resources for the exam. In addition, providers like edureka, simpli learn, udemy, among others offer the resources for you to prepare for the exam and better train yourself.