Blueprints for balanced exams
A “blueprint” data model defines how questions should be distributed across exam topics, so admins can check at a glance that every topic is covered the way it should be.
- Data Architecture
- Requirements Gathering
ABSA Certification Exam Question Bank
- Role: Full-Stack Developer
- At: Freelance
- Date: May 2025
For years, a professional certification board updated its exam content the same way: send files to an independent developer, and get files back. Then he retired. All that was left was a compiled program that no longer ran, with no source code, no documentation and no spec. The client had no way to update their own exams.
I rebuilt the whole process as a self-service PHP and Angular app they now run on their own, year after year.
- 0 lines of original source code to work from
- ~10 weeks from black box to working platform
Working backwards from “we give him this, he gives us that”
With nothing to read, the only thing to go on was the relationship between inputs and outputs. The client knew what they used to send and what they used to get back, so I worked backwards with them, piece by piece, reconstructing the business logic hiding inside that black box.
Once the rules were clear, I rebuilt them natively on the same PHP/MySQL and Angular (TypeScript) framework that powers Thyme, as a platform the client can run themselves. No more waiting on one person, and no more single point of failure.
What they got
Self-service, every year
Admins manage questions and blueprints on their own. The annual update that used to depend entirely on one developer is now just something the client does.
- Business Continuity
- PHP
- Angular
Stack & skills
- PHP
- Angular
- TypeScript
- MySQL