Oracle Database 23ai SQL Associate, 1Z0-171 exam review

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I like my certifications fresh. You can brag that you are one of the first ones who took the exam, you can help to promote and even raise the awareness that the certification exists. And no one can accuse you of cheating.

Here is my mini review of the 1z0-171 exam:

Most of the questions are pick 2 or 3 from 5 or 6 options. Much harder to do than on OCI foundations exams where you are picking 1 from 4. Half of the questions are easy to understand, easy to answer. One third is much harder and it will make you sweat. The rest would go to the very hard category and I would say that I have faced several questions where I strongly disagreed with the answers (it is when you are suppose to pick 2 from 6, but you know that 3 are possible or they ask for 3 and you know that only 2 are possible). But based on other legacy exams the percentage of these questions is not bad. On one question I have to guess 3 options from 6 based on non existing exhibit image.

I really liked the questions on 1z0-913 (Oracle Database SQL Specialist) exam, I think they were better. But since you can't take this exam anymore, it does not matter.

Spoiler alter, it is just a refreshed 1z0-071 exam (which is not retiring yet), there is nothing new in it. The questions are relevant to the SQL, but there is nothing about Oracle Database 23ai on this exam! I think only one question was mentioning GROUP BY with alias or position and thats it. Dissapointing. You don't have to know anything about Oracle Database 23ai and you will still pass. Well, I would say you need to have at least 2 years of experience with Oracle SQL. It is nearly impossible to pass this exam if you have less.

One more thing I am disappointed with is the lost opportunity on 50 years SQL anniversary badge. I am still petty about stupid Java getting its 25 years badge, free course and free certification with a lot of attention around, seeing this 50 years old marvel left behind. Shame, shame, shame.

The good thing about this certification is that it will not expire and that if you have participated on the Race to Certification Challenge last year, you can really use gained exam vouchers for this exam. So I got this certification for free, nice!

How do you prepare for this exam? I was going to tell you to watch the Oracle Database 23ai: New Features for Developers course, but don't bother (for the exam, other than that it is not a bad course). The official course is the Oracle Database 23ai: SQL Workshop course, which is hidden behind the paywall and it looks the same as 19c version. You can get the same content elsewhere for fraction of the price.

It is a must have certification for PL/SQL and APEX developers and it wont expire. If you are doing Oracle for a while, you should pass the exam without any deep studying. I would certainly recommend to not take the exam on Friday before midnight. I was super tired and it has certainly lowered my score.

Just to be clear, there is no excuse to skip this certification.