A CNCF-first of its kind
Open source projects thrive or die based in large part on their community of contributors. It behooves maintainers to make opportunities for recognition and support of their contributors abundant. As a tool to allow contributors to showcase and validate their expertise, Meshery maintainers are thrilled to announce the launch of the Certified Meshery Contributor (CMC) certification — the project’s first certification and a first of its kind for the CNCF — crafted to acknowledge and authenticate the proficiency of developers actively shaping the Meshery ecosystem.
Meshery, recognized as the CNCF’s sixth highest-velocity project, offers a thoughtfully designed contributor onboarding experience. This includes weekly newcomer meetings, self-paced training, and now a new certification program to validate contributors’ expertise.
About the Certification
The Certified Meshery Contributor (CMC) certification validates technical proficiency in contributing to the Meshery open source project through written assessments. The certification consists of five distinct exams, each dedicated to one of Meshery’s major architectural domains: Meshery Server, Meshery CLI, Meshery UI, Meshery Models, and Meshery Extensibility.
Tailored for developers possessing intermediate skills in Go, React, and OpenAPI schemas, and with hands-on experience in Meshery’s codebase, this certification affirms an individual’s capability to make substantial contributions to project development. This includes adept code implementation, thorough testing, seamless integration, and strategic optimization.
- Track: Developers
- Target Audience: Developers, technical writers, and community members.
- Prerequisites: Proficiency in Git and GitHub, familiar with Meshery’s architecture, and healthy understanding of open source collaboration.
- Key Focus: Ability to competently participate as an open source contributor across the core collection of Meshery’s architectural domains, demonstrating understanding of code (Go, JavaScript), documentation, and CI-based project enhancements.
- Exam Format: Multiple-choice/online assessment
- Project Contributions: There is no minimum number of project contributions, like accepted pull requests (PRs) that are required for certification. However, successful candidates of the
- Duration: 2 hours
- Passing Rate: 70%
- Cost: Free
- Validity: 2 years
The Certified Meshery Contributor exams have been created and reviewed by maintainers from each of Meshery’s major architectural domains. This first Meshery certification is part of a larger initiative to establish a comprehensive certification program for the Meshery ecosystem.
Introducing the Meshery Certification Program
The Certified Meshery Contributor program is part of the broader Meshery Certification Program, which offers a structured pathway for professionals to validate their skills in managing and contributing to Meshery. The program includes certifications for administrators, developers, and open source contributors, each tailored to different levels of expertise and roles within the Meshery ecosystem.
Explore the Meshery Certification Program design
Certification Tracks, Tiers and Exam Structure
The Meshery Certification program offers specialized tracks designed for distinct audiences: Administrators, Developers, and Community members. Each track is structured with progressive tiers, catering to specific levels of expertise and fostering growth within the community.
Administrators Track
The Administrators track is tailored for operators and advanced users of Meshery. Certifications in this track range from validating foundational knowledge of the platform’s core concepts to verifying deep expertise in extending and troubleshooting Meshery as a platform. All certifications assess practical abilities in using Meshery for real-world infrastructure design, lifecycle, and performance management.
Certifications:
- Certified Meshery Associate
- Certified Meshery Professional
- Certified Meshery Expert
Developers Track
The Developers track targets contributors and engineers focused on building and extending Meshery. Certifications here validate skills from open source contributions to advanced development and integration, ensuring participants can effectively enhance the platform’s capabilities.
Certifications:
- Certified Meshery Contributor
- Certified Meshery Developer
Certification Exams
Each Meshery certification is meticulously designed to validate specific levels of expertise within the cloud-native ecosystem, with a keen focus on the Meshery platform. Spanning from entry-level foundational knowledge to advanced technical and leadership roles, these certifications feature hands-on, performance-based exams that mirror real-world scenarios in cloud-native environments. The program is organized into tracks for Administrators, Developers, and Community members, featuring progressive tiers to support ongoing professional development.
Scores needed to pass exams
All exam scores are reported on a percentage basis, with a passing threshold of 70% or greater. Exams vary in the number, type, and complexity of questions. While questions may be uniformly weighted, they can also differ in point value based on difficulty, as determined by exam creators. Unless specified otherwise, each question holds equal value (typically two points). Passing is determined by demonstrating the requisite knowledge, skills, and competence, considering question difficulty.
An Addition to Meshery’s Existing Recognition Program
The new certification program compliments Meshery’s existing practice of recognizing users and contributors in their journey with Meshery. New certification badges now join the ranks of Meshery’s existing recognition program as a tangible way for us to recognize and honor the exceptional efforts put forth by our contributors and the milestones achieved by our users. These badges are a representation of your participation and milestones that you achieve together and in solidarity with the Meshery community. Badges are how users demonstrate their prowess with the projects and how contributors identify their ownership, dedication, and skills. There are several badges each representing a specific user achievement or contributor skill.
Recognition badges come in different flavors and now include a new category for certifications:
- Achievement Badges: User-focused (e.g., “Shipped” for first deployment).
- Project Badges: Contribution-focused (e.g., “Meshery Catalog”).
- Community Badges: Community and no-code focused (e.g., “MeshMate” for mentoring).
- Certification Badges: User and Contributor-focused (e.g., “Certified Meshery Contributor” for passing the CMC exam).
The new Certified Meshery Contributor Badge recognizes developers who have successfully passed the Certified Meshery Contributor exam, validating their skills in contributing to the Meshery open source project.
There’s no time to waste. Start your journey to becoming a Certified Meshery Contributor today! Visit the Meshery Academy and Certified Meshery Contributor exam page to learn more and register for this free certification. Embrace this opportunity to validate your skills and contribute meaningfully to the Meshery ecosystem.
– Lee Calcote