I am posting this since I feel indebted to those who previously appended their strategies to this forum. I passed today with 67%.
I do not often use
Java, although I took a course in 1997, read Deitel & Deitel in 2000, created a couple of Java prototypes for a client, then gave two Java seminars for that client's employees in 2001. My other technical experience is broad: COBOL, C, C++, etc. etc. over 30 years.
My recent strategy was to read Mughal & Rasmussen. I bought JCertify, but I felt most exercised by Dan Chisholm's mock exams (www.danchisholm.net). I did a couple of JCertify's mock exams, but was irritated that I was required to answer the same question multiple times. I worked through most of Dan's mock exams and studied them carefully, sometimes cutting/pasting the code, compiling and executing (which you can't do with JCertify). I made my own notes (although I had downloaded some others). My notes were taken mostly from Dan's exams and included summary charts on Collections, Wrappers, Outer/Inner classes, Keywords, Operator Precedence, etc. On the day of the exam I reviewed my notes three times.
I was weak in Garbage Collection and Declarations and Access Control, with high marks in Lang Fundamentals, Collections, and Overloading, etc.
My recent effort took about six+ weeks: Mughal & Ras. was about 3+ weeks, mock exams 2+. During this time I had to work an average of about 45 billable hours plus commute. I didn't have any family distractions (no kids under 22). I've been quite focused these past weeks (last weekend studying about 12 hours both Sat & Sun). Reading the stories of many of the high scorers in this forum, I felt inspired and competetive. In spite of my relatively average score, I'm pleased to have passed and am appreciative for the guidance provided by many others in the Java community.
