Hi there,
passed it yesterday with 83%.
The preceding experience was horrible
30 minutes before the exam I arrived at the test center. I was welcomed by confused people who obviously weren't expecting me:
"An exam? Seriously? Today?" ... "Oh no, she is on vacation today." "Noone told us..."
Turned out the only person who knew how to setup a pearson test was on vacation. So I was waiting while the staff was trying to figure out how to do it themselves. Took them a good hour. Finally I could write my test and everyone was happy *phew*
My recommended way of learning:
Get enthuware and do the first test without learning. If you score just 30% or less, don't worry. This is just to get a sense for how deep you have to dive into the topics. There are enough remaining tests to check your level of preparation. Flash card learning is an efficient way to learn and will save you a lot of time!Get K&B 7: Read it chapter by chapter.
-> While reading create flash cards for the Leitner system (Important constructors, methods with arguments and return types; exam notes; important concepts to know; packages and their classes);
-> Write simple test code for every concept in the book (e.g. EnumTest.java, ScannerTest.java, EnumTest2.java ...). It is of great help to NOT use an IDE. This will implicitly teach you the packages and will make you a much more careful sourcecode-reader which is important for the exam! Use notepad and the command-line to compile and run your java code. Use javadoc (e.g. java.lang.String) to find classes and methods.
-> Do the self test at the end of the chapter and also create flash cards from important points you missed while reading the chapter (Pitfalls!)
-> Install a derby or oracle express database to write test code for the last chapter (Connect java with a database := JDBC).Do some learning cycles with your flash cards. You can also start learning your existent flashcards before finishing the book. Try to get all flash cards at least out of the first Leitner box before you proceedMock exam time:
-> Start with the two from the downloadable content from the K&B 7.
-> Followup with the remaining 8 from enthuware (including the last day)
-> After each test do a complete review of all questions (incorrectly AND correctly answers) and add new concepts or pitfalls to your flash card box 1. If a concept was already existent in a higher Leitner box, return it to box 1.
-> If you feel uncomfortable with a specific topic reread the passages in K&B 7.After you finished learning with your flash cards you should be ready to go for the exam.
Pricing: Enthuware mock exams ~ 10$, K&B 7 ~ 37$
Read other posts from people in this forum who finished this exam. They all love to share their way of learning and you can cherry pick the way that suits you most.
Best regards,
Bernhard