# software_designer: a study repository for the Chinese Software Designer exam

> The xiaomabenten/software_designer repository collects lecture videos, past exam papers, official textbook scans, mock papers and a free practice quiz application for the intermediate level Software Designer certification in China, and it is a document archive rather than a software project.

**xiaomabenten/software_designer** — 💯2026年 软件设计师 （软考中级）备考资源库+配套免费刷题软件。https://ruankaodaren.com

- Repository: https://github.com/xiaomabenten/software_designer
- Website: https://ruankaodaren.com
- Stars: 1,709 · Forks: 300
- Language: Unknown
- License: MIT
- Published: 2026-10-19 · Updated: 2026-10-19 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/xiaomabenten-software-designer

## What the repository actually is

The repository xiaomabenten/software_designer is a resource library for the Software Designer qualification, the intermediate level of China's national computer technology and software professional qualification examination, known as the soft exam or ruankao. The README describes it as the most comprehensive preparation resource library on the web for the 2025 exam, and states that the project has been maintained for free since 2020 and has helped more than 80,000 people sit the exam.

The important thing to understand before looking at the contents is that this is an archive of documents, not a software project. The repository metadata shows the primary language as unknown, which is an accurate description: the top level holds ten numbered directories of Chinese-named material folders, a LICENSE file, a .gitignore and a README. The only code in the tree sits in two places, a folder for source code and a folder for a free practice application, and the README's directory listing confirms that structure.

That matters for anyone evaluating the repository. A document archive is useful in a way a code repository is not, and it is useful in a way a code repository is not compatible with: the value is in the coverage and the organisation of the material, and the cost is that the material ages, that the exam syllabus moves, and that nothing here is maintained in the sense a library would be.

## The directory layout mirrors the exam structure

The ten top level directories are numbered and named, which is the clearest thing about the repository:

```bash
00. 刷题软件（免费强烈推荐-必用）
01. 精讲视频（26年10月）
02. 真题及解析（2020年-2024年）
03. 官方教材(第5版)+教辅
04. 章节练习题
05. 软件设计师 学霸笔记
06. 源代码
07. 机考讲解及模拟
08. 学前必看：软考基本介绍讲解及考试时间
09. 2026年软考实名认证操作流程及常见问题说明
```

The README describes the same catalogue in eight categories: videos, past exam papers with explanations, the official textbook plus supplementary material, full mock papers and exercises, other materials and notes, courseware, machine-exam explanation and simulation, and the exam registration procedure.

The exam itself has two halves, and the naming shows it. The video list includes a fundamentals course, an afternoon case analysis course, a knowledge point review, a video walkthrough of past papers and a live session replay, so the archive splits the morning general knowledge part from the afternoon case analysis part the way the paper does. The last two directories are about the bureaucracy rather than the theory: an introduction to the exam and its schedule, and a separate 2026 folder covering the real-name identity verification procedure and its frequently asked questions, with the exam signup process listed as its own category.

The past paper archive is the most perishable part. The README lists papers with explanations from 2005 through the second half of 2024, and also a set without explanations that it recommends for timed practice, alongside a machine-exam section that is listed without detail.

## The free practice application and the source code folder

Two entries in the tree point at software rather than material, and the first one is the entry the README is most insistent about. The directory 00 for the practice application carries a parenthetical that reads free, strongly recommended, must use, and the repository description names it as the free practice software bundled with the resource library.

The free programme is the part of the repository that a developer can actually run, and the presence of a source code directory means the material is not only downloadable but inspectable. Whether the application in directory 00 and the code in directory 06 are the same project is not stated in the README, so a reader should look at both before assuming.

The machine-exam section, the seventh directory, matters because the examination format itself has shifted toward computer based testing. The README lists it as a separate category, and the 2026 identity verification folder implies the administrative side of the exam has changed too. For a candidate in 2026, the practical sequence implied by the archive is to read the introduction and schedule first, then follow the identity verification instructions, then work through the paper by paper.

The repository is MIT licensed, with the licence file at the top level. The README also asks readers to follow a WeChat public account called CTO说 and reply with a keyword to receive a free preparation pack, which is a distribution channel rather than part of the code.

## The 2024 change in how material is distributed

The README carries a notice that changes what a visitor finds. It states that the project has been maintained for free since 2020 and has helped more than 80,000 people, and then says that to provide better service, from 11 March 2024 the material will no longer be shared for free through the WeChat public account, and that a link is provided for the latest complete set of materials.

That link points to a separate site, 91ke.cn, which is outside the repository and outside the MIT licence that covers the files in the tree. So the repository is best understood as an index and an archive of what was shared openly, with the current complete material set living somewhere else.

The directory names tell the same story from the other direction. Several are dated: the video folder carries 26年10月, the paper folder covers 2020 to 2024, and the identity verification folder is explicitly 2026. The video section in the README notes one course as finished in November 2025 and another as still being updated, which is a reasonable cadence for a course that must track a moving syllabus.

For an English speaking reader there is a simple summary. This is a Chinese language document collection with a Chinese language practice application, built around the Chinese examination, and the parts of it that remain useful outside China are the structural ones, the way the archive is organised by paper half and by year.

## Where this repository is the wrong tool

The first case is a candidate who needs an authoritative source. The archive contains scans and copies of the official textbook, the official syllabus and past papers, but it is a redistribution, not the issuing body. Where a document is available from the exam organiser, that version is the one that counts, and a summary or a scan of the textbook is a study aid rather than a specification.

The second case is a candidate who has to know exactly what is current. The exam is a national qualification with a published syllabus, a yearly update to the test content and a scoring scheme, and this repository tracks those only indirectly, through the folders it happens to have updated. The dates in the folder names are the only freshness signal, and a reader has to read them.

The third case is a candidate outside China. The application, the videos, the notes and the identity verification instructions are all Chinese, and the exam itself is administered in China with a real-name verification step, so the practice tooling is of little use elsewhere even if the papers are worth reading as a record of the subject.

The sensible alternative for a candidate who can afford it is a paid course that tracks the current syllabus, and for a candidate who cannot is the official sample papers and syllabus from the exam organiser, with this repository used for the extra drill and the notes rather than as the primary specification. What this repository genuinely offers that a paid course often does not is the archive of past papers, and the mock papers under version 1 and version 2, which are the closest thing to a self-marking practice set in the tree.

## Conclusion

software_designer fits a self-study candidate for the Chinese Software Designer exam who wants a single index of lecture material, past papers and a drill app, and its directory naming makes the exam structure legible at a glance. It does not fit a candidate who needs an authoritative syllabus or a candidate outside China who cannot use the practice app. Check first whether the material you need is still in the repository, since the README says distribution moved to an external link in 2024.

## FAQ

### What is the xiaomabenten/software_designer repository?

It is a preparation resource library for China's intermediate level Software Designer professional qualification exam, holding lecture videos, past papers with explanations, textbook and supplementary material, mock papers, notes and a free practice application. It is MIT licensed and is an archive of documents rather than a software project.

### Does the repository still contain all the study material for free?

The README states that free distribution through the WeChat public account stopped on 11 March 2024, and it points to an external link for the latest complete set of materials. The repository itself remains MIT licensed and keeps the dated folders, including papers up to the second half of 2024 and video material updated through 2026.

### What is the free practice application in the repository?

The first top level directory, numbered 00, holds a free practice quiz program that the README describes as strongly recommended and must use, and a separate directory numbered 06 holds source code. The README does not state whether the two are the same project.

### What should a candidate check before relying on this material?

Check the freshness, since folder names carry the dates of the material and the exam syllabus changes year to year, and check the source of the official textbook and syllabus documents against the exam organiser, since the repository holds copies rather than the issuing versions. The 2026 folder on real-name verification describes the administrative steps for the current year.

## Sources

- [Issues](https://github.com/xiaomabenten/software_designer/issues)
- [License: MIT](https://github.com/xiaomabenten/software_designer/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [Project website](https://ruankaodaren.com)
- [README](https://github.com/xiaomabenten/software_designer/blob/main/README.md)
- [xiaomabenten/software_designer on GitHub](https://github.com/xiaomabenten/software_designer)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/xiaomabenten-software-designer