Unfortunately only found javaranch in last 3 weeks, but it has
been a great resource.
Just wanted to pass on some of my impressions of the
test and how I prepared.
1. Read through Mughal & Rasmussen in spare time (took about two months, in spare time). Chaps. 1-14 & 18.
2. Went back and took notes on each chapter and tried end of chapter questions. (two weeks in spare time)
3. Took one week off work and put in 4 to 6 hrs per day, intensely studying notes, writing sample programs, and taking mock exams.
Here are my scores:
Khalid & Mughal: 58
Marcus Greens Exams:
#1: 78
#2: 78
#3: 76
Brogden's test from exam cram: 82
Anyway, I would really concentrate on the basics:
* Declarations & Access Control
* Exception Handling
* Overriding & Overloading
* Flow Control
* Inner Classes
* Garbage collection
* Threads (these questions were tough)
* IO
On the test I took, only cursory knowledge of java.util and java.awt were needed (I only skimmed AWT since at work I use
Java for server side stuff only)
Don't start taking mock exams until you can do the roundup with ease.
I didn't put anything in quotes, the questions I had were to fill in the box exactly as it would appear on the screen.
What makes the test easier than the mocks is that you know you only have one or two correct answers on the real test so its easier to guess.
Good luck to all, the test is challenging but very passable with a little preparation.