I took the
SCJP on 10/29/01 and got 56 correct. I found the real exem much less "tricky" than the mocks. In the mocks, there would often be 25 lines of code and some hidden, irrelevant command that would cause a general "Does not compile" answer. In the real exam, almost all compile problem answers were tied to a specific line: "Does not compile because of line 5".
I also had several (3-4) questions with compile problems caused by different return types for overriding methods. This is obviously a very important issue with Sun.
The exam was reasonably straightforward. I took my time with each question the first time through and finished in 1 hour, 20 minutes. At that point I felt it had been tough and somewhat confusing. But as I went through each question a second time, I realized my answers were correct. I changed one answer that I misunderstood the first time. I finished the second pass with 40 seconds to spare and I knew I had a good score.
I missed 1 of 7 in Threads, 1 of 7 in Operators and Assignments, and 1 of 2 in util package. I used Mughal book for preparation and had taken C++ and
Java class before. Finding JavaRanch was an invaluable resource. Hanging around the JavaRanch for 3-4 weeks will
boost your score by at least 10-15 points. Thanks to all.
