You're correct in your statement that the CSDP is aimed more at professionals. The requirements to sit for the CSDP are one of a Bachelor's degree, completion of the CSDA exam, post-baccalaureate teaching experience, or IEEE membership and one of an advanced degree in software engineering with 2 years of experience or four years of experience.
You can also through the recommended references for the CSDP and compare them to the recommended references for the CSDA), along with some sample test questions from the CSDP and compare them to some sample test questions from the CSDA.
There are also two bulletins from 2011 that provide a breakdown of topics on each exam: the CSDA and CSDP - it includes the amount of the exam devoted to each high level topic and the competency level (introductory "I" or competency "C") for the various subtopics. I don't suspect that much has changed between then and now, other than some refinements. I suspect the next major refresh may come after SWEBOK v3 is published.
All of the weights and competencies are (CSDA / CSDP).
- Software Requirements (7% / 11%)
- Software Requirements Fundamentals (I / C)
- Requirements Process (I / C)
- Requirements Elicitation (I / C)
- Requirements Analysis (C / C)
- Requirements Specification (I / C)
- Requirements Validation (C / C)
- Practical Considerations (I / C)
- Software Design (8% / 11%)
- Software Design Fundamentals (C / C)
- Key Issues in Software Design (C / C)
- Software Structure and Architecture (C / C)
- Human Computer Interface Design (C / C)
- Software Design Quality Analysis and Evaluation (C / C)
- Software Design Notations (C / C)
- Software Design Strategies and Methods (C / C)
- Software Construction (10% / 9%)
- Software Construction Fundamentals (C / C)
- Managing Construction (C / C)
- Practical Considerations (C / C)
- Construction Tools (C / C)
- Construction Technologies (C / C(
- Product Documentation (C / C)
- Formal Construction Methods (C / I)
- Software Testing (7% / 11%)
- Software Testing Fundamentals (I / C)
- Test Levels (C / C)
- Test Techniques (C / C)
- Human Computer User Interface Testing and Evaluation (C / C)
- Test-Related Measures (C / C)
- Test Process (C / C)
- Software Maintenance (7% / 5%)
- Software Maintenance Fundamentals (I / C)
- Key Issues in Software Maintenance (I / C)
- Maintenance Process (C / C)
- Techniques for Maintenance (C / C)
- Software Configuration Management (3% / 5%)
- Management of the SCM Process (I / C)
- Software Configuration Identification (I / C)
- Software Configuration Control (I / C)
- Software Configuration Status Accounting (I / I)
- Software Configuration Auditing (I / I)
- Software Release Management and Delivery (I / C)
- Software Configuration Management Tools (I / I)
- Software Engineering Management (3% / 8%)
- Initiation and Scope Definition (I / I)
- Software Project Planning (C / C)
- Software Project Enactment (C / C)
- Review and Evaluation (I / I)
- Closure (I / I)
- Software Engineering Measurement (I / I)
- Software Management Tools (I / I)
- Software Engineering Process (4% / 7%)
- Process Implementation and Change (I / I)
- Process Definition (C / C)
- Process Assessment (I / I)
- Measurement (I / I)
- Software Process Tools (I / I)
- Software Engineering Methods (5% / 4%)
- Modeling (C / C)
- Types of Models (C / C)
- Analysis (C / C)
- Development Methods (C / C)
- Software Quality (6% / 7%)
- Software Quality Fundamentals (I / C)
- Software Quality Management Processes (C / C)
- Software Quality Practical Considerations (C / C)
- Software Engineering Professional Practice (7% / 5%)
- Professionalism (C / C)
- Codes of Ethics (C / C)
- Group Dynamics / Psychology (C / C)
- Communications Skills (C / C)
- Intellectual Property, Confidentiality, Security (C / C)
- Software Engineering Economics (3% / 5%)
- Software Engineering Economy Fundamentals (C / C)
- For-Profit Decision-Making (C / C)
- Not-for-Profit Decision-Making (C / C)
- Present Economy (C / C)
- Estimation, Risk, and Uncertainty (C / C)
- Multiple Attribute Decisions (C / C)
- Computing Foundations (10% / 5%)
- Programming Fundamentals (C / C)
- Algorithms, Data Structures/Representation and Complexity (C / C)
- Problem Solving Techniques (C / C)
- Abstraction Use (C / C)
- Computer Organization (C / C)
- Basic Concept of a System (C / C)
- Basic User Human Factors (C / C)
- Basic Developer Human Factors (C / C)
- Operating System Basics (C / C)
- Database Basics and Data Management (C / C)
- Network Communication Basics (C / C)
- Distributed and Parallel Computing (C / C)
- Concepts of Programming Languages (C / C)
- Debugging Tools and Techniques (C / C)
- Secure Coding (C / C)
- Mathematical Foundations (10% / 3%)
- Functions, Relations, and Sets (C / C)
- Basic Logic (prepositional and predicate) (C / C)
- Proof Techniques (C / C)
- Basic Counting (C / C)
- Graphs and Trees (C / C)
- Discrete Probability (C / C)
- Finite State Machines (C / C)
- Grammars (C / C)
- Numerical Precision, Accuracy, and Errors (C / C)
- Number Theory (C / C)
- Algebraic Structures (C / C)
- Engineering Foundations (10% / 4%)
- Empirical Methods and Experimental Techniques (C / C)
- Statistical Analysis (C / C)
- Measurement (I / C)
- Systems Development (I / C)
- Engineering Design (C / C)
- Theory of Measurement (C / C)
- Simulation, Modeling and Conceptual Prototyping (C / C)
- Goal-Question-Metric Paradigm (I / C)
- Standards (identify, evaluate, select and adapt) (I / C)
- Tool and Platform Selection (I / C)
- Root Cause Analysis (C / C)
