passed the exam today

[Leon Webster]

I passed the SCJP this morning (89%). I thought that it was a good test -- much better than the Sun Certified Java2 Architect Exam (which I passed about a year ago). The questions were relatively straight-forward (although not as straight-forward as I think -- else I wouldn't have missed any).
I studied for about 6 weeks, using the KAM and RHE books, and lots of mock exams from Java Ranch. Even though I have been working with Java technologies for several years, I still learned a lot. For example, I usually don't deal with GUIs, so I didn't know much about the AWT framework. So the process was beneficial to me.
The time allowance was 120 minutes. I didn't need near that long. I reviewed every question at least once. Lost at least one question when I tried to be too clever in the review.
I think the advice given at Java Ranch on how to pass the exam is very good -- study and take mock exams.
Thanks much for the Java Ranch site and all the help I got from here.

[N Mukherjee]

Many Congratulations!!!
Good Score indeed!!!
regds
N Mukherjee,SCJP
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"Knowledge is Power"---*************************MOCKLIST

[Sandeep Arora]

Congrats Leon!
And Nitya - it is nice to see soemone mentioning SCJP in his signature.
Hope to do it myself in a month's time.
SANDEEP

[N Mukherjee]

hello,
my above HTML link may not be working

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"Knowledge is Power"---*************************MOCKLIST

[Jane Griscti]

Congratulations Leon
Jane

[Peter Tran]

Leon,
I thought the JAVA certification exams had to be taken in the following order: Programmers -> Developers -> Architect. You're the first person I've read that did it out of order(?). Did you find the Architect exam difficult? Why did you choose to take the Architect exam first?
Regards,
-Peter

[Leon Webster]

Peter,
I took the Architect exam a year ago -- the format has changed since then. The reason I took them out of order is that I do mostly architecting -- which is to say, I only get to write code when I have been very good, or when I can disguise it as a "prototype for something I am thinking about". I really spend most of my time working with Rational Rose and UML and attending meetings. So, in some ways the architect exam was more relevent to me. On the other hand, I dislike "architects" who have no experience with the technoligies they are specifying. So I keep my hand in coding wise.
I know 2 or three other people who took the architect exam first. As a matter of fact, I decided to take the architect exam when I found out that a co-worker was a certified java architect and I thought "well if he can do it, so can i". As far as i know, there isn't a required order to the exams...just a suggested one.
The architect exam I took a year ago struck me as a poor test. too much opinion, and many poorly worded questions. At some point in the RHE book they say something to the effect that the programmer's exam is not an exercise in rhetoric, and they don't have many "trick" questions. I didn't feel that way about the architect exam. It reminded me of the radio show "whadda ya know" where "ambigious or misleading questions are par for the course"
Also, there wasn't much information about the exam and what to study. Jaworski's book had some stuff, but it was a poor reflection of the actual exam and I wouldn't recommend it.
Having said all those bad things about the previous architect exam, the format has now changed (but I am not sure I want to do it over again), so hopefully it is a much better indication of what your knowledge is. So I am not sure my comments above are really relevent any more.
Hope this helps.

Originally posted by Peter Tran:
Leon,
I thought the JAVA certification exams had to be taken in the following order: Programmers -> Developers -> Architect. You're the first person I've read that did it out of order(?). Did you find the Architect exam difficult? Why did you choose to take the Architect exam first?
Regards,
-Peter

[Leon Webster]

Thanks for all the good wishes and good luck to all of you.
Leon

[Peter Tran]

Leon,
That's the the feedback regarding your experiences with SUN's certification exam.
-Peter

[Ajith Kallambella]

Hearty Congratulations Leon!
Best wishes,
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Ajith Kallambella M.
Sun Certified Programmer for the Java2 Platform.

[Shailendra Guggali]

Congrats Leon - great show
pls spare a minute of your valuable time to elaborate on
1. what topics were stressed and to what extent
2. anything special about questions on Garbage collec - ( looks easy but most like us might miss it)
3. any particular mock exam you felt was the closest
4. too many theory questions? - true / false kind or fill in the blanks - what was the ratio of code questions to theory questions
5. Any other magic potion for aspiring people like us
thanx and congrats once again