What is so funny?

[Padma Raman]

Hi all,
Today I passed SCJP with a score of 77%. God is great. The exam was ok.(30% real easy ones, 30% medium ones, this if you read Kathy properly you can answer each one of them), 30% hard ones - this if you program a lot or if you have working experience you can answer, 10% real hard ones - if u r a genius). I do not have any working experience and I have two kids and I am so busy all the time so I could not prepare like 8 hours a day nothing to worry about. Kathy abd Bert's book is really worth buying.
I really like to thank Kathy and Bert for their wonderful book. This book is not only helpful but also helpful in boosting your spirit. Let me not forget to tell about the sense of humor. I really needed all that and my family used to ask me " what is so funny in there? U r studying Java2, right?".
Here is how I prepared for the exam.
1. I read the Java book(by Kathy and Bert) for two months. During these two months, I studied whenever i got time(from 15 minutes to two hours.
2. Next one month, I spent time writing few little programs and Dan's mock exam.
3. Last month, I spent time on giving Marcus's exam(thye are really good ones. It is only ten dollars and it is worth every penny. (Thanks, Marcus)
and my second revision(Java book).
4. The very last week, I tried the Master Exam CD(comes along with the book), And I tried directly closed exam, i got 77% the same score. I was very disappointed. I was very nervous. I read Kathy the third time and I tried Marcus and Kathy's Master+ bonus exam again. My scre really improved a lot.
5. I was tempted to postpone. Then I revisited kathy again. There you go, I felt better.Whenever my spirit went down, I used to run for the book. Atleast, three questions came from the book itself. I went for the exam. I am happy about my score. ( I repeat ....I have two school going very demanding kids(with all their extra curricular activities) and my husband is also very busy in his work.)
I want to thank my husband who did all the work (laundry, dishwashing, cooking , and teach me garbage collection , and what not... this last week, he did so much for me).
Which exam should i give now if i want to get a job?
Thanks everyone.
Regards,
Raman

[Satish Avadhanam]

Hi Raman, Congrats on passing!!
Score does'nt really matter, pass or fail is all the matters. It seems that you really worked hard and scored good marks.
If you want to take another exam, you can try going for SCWCD or SCBCD.
You can just go through JR forums to find the information and if you have any questions you can post them.

Good Luck to you

[Siki Rikishi]

Congratulations! Great job!!!
Did you know Java before you began K&B's prep book? Do you know any other languages? Congratulations again!!

[Jacques Bosch]

Really well done!

[Jeroen Wenting]

Raman, the best you can do now is first gain some realworld experience.
As there are at the moment not all that many jobs for entrylevel programmers out there (at least here, might be different where you are), you might join an open source project instead.
Look for one that's still in active development and not in maintenance mode and get some code in.

[Vishwa Kumba]

Congratulations Padma!

Originally posted by Padma Raman:
I want to thank my husband.........

I must say you have a lucky husband, who supports Java Aspirants!.....He also deserves some credit.....

You could try learning Servlets/JSPs......but an open source project if you can get into would also be great!.....
Good Luck!
[ March 15, 2004: Message edited by: Vish Kumar ]

[Padma Raman]

Hi,
OOPs, I forgot to thank all the Java ranchers. You are the best.
Now I want your guidance to proceed from here. I would like to know how hard it is to do SCWCD? How should I prepare? Is there any book like Kathy's for this exam. As time is a constraint for me, I am also ready to buy one or two commercial mock exam softwares. Please suggest what are the best ones available in the market(specific names would be more useful in deciding.
Some of you have mentioned about Open Resource Project. Where can i find one? I am ready to work for free to anyone (for sometime) to get some good experience.
Now my background....
I do not have any working experience in Java although I have done Masters in Computer Science and I was a C programmer once. I studied Java all by myself. Java, I learnt Java out of my own interest(some four years back) and did not touch any of the books last four years due to family constraints. Just last December, I started again all over. I could understand everything explained in Kathy but remembering(those tricks) everything was hard for me.
Regards,
Raman

[Padma Raman]

Hi All,
Also, one more thing I want to ask. If you do not have real world experience in Java(In other language, yes I do have experience in design, test, development), which exam should i take SCWCD or SCBCD?
Regards,
Raman

[Jeroen Wenting]

It all depends on what direction you see your career taking (or wish it to take).
SCWCD centers around the frontend, SCBCD around the backend.
You might also consider SCDJP (certified developer) and ultimately Sun certified architect, which might fit in better with your interests if you want to move away from code into software architecture.

[Hari Vignesh Padmanaban]

Hi Padma,
Congrats
here is my view of teh scenario
----------------------------------
SCJD
----------------------------------
AS Wenting pointed out, SCJD would be a better option if you want to go into core java development. ALso if you dont have any experience, then this would be the BEST exam to take !!! .
I am not sure if you have read thro the description of the exam, but you are required to develop a application right from scratch !!. So you would have to go through the entire soiftware development process.
So completing this assignment would indicate to the employees that you would be able to write code very close to production level. The exam also is graded on Documentation, OO design, Thread synchronaization (locking) and GUI !!!
And I did read in an article, (i think from certmag.com) that it can substitute for 3 - 12 months experience. So if you are looking for a job, i would suggest you to go ahead with this !!!
well, said that comming to scwcd and scbcd ..
Before I start --> Teh only big difference between SCJD compared to SCBCD & SCWCD is that you wont be writting any application in teh latter two exams. So it might not be really useful in terms of job search compared to SCJD !!
----------------------------------
SCWCD
----------------------------------
SCWCD is relativley easier to take then SCBCD. Ands it covers servlets and JSP. There is no book written by kathy for this. But the book
"SCWCD Exam Study Kit: Java Web Component Developer Certification
by Hanumant Deshmukh, Jignesh Malavia, Jacquelyn Carter"
is more than sufficient to clear the exam.
Sun is comming up with an upgradd version of this exam very soon. So you might want to postpone your plans for scwcd to take the new exam !!
----------------------------------
SCBCD
----------------------------------
SCBCD is comparitivley tougher to take. But there is a book written by kathy and bates for that "Head First EJB" which would make the process a little more easier
I am looking for a job right now. I have no experinece . and I didi realsie that SCWCD and SCBCD dont really help you get a job like SCJD.
So I am currently preparing for SCJD
well, one more suggestion is :
If you have little bit more time, try taking the OOAD exam from IBM. This is a wonderful exam (its very tough though). But it will really help you in becomming a good OO programmer and I think it hold more value than teh otehr java certifications.
Doing teh SCJD after this would also help you design better and understand the technical stuff the experienced gurus speak abt (patterns !!)
And as far as simulators go, you dont need a simulator for scwcd if you are getting teh book I mentioned. For OOAD and SCBCD , whizlabs is the BEST !!!
hope this helps
[ March 16, 2004: Message edited by: Hari Vignesh Padmanaban ]

[Satish Avadhanam]

I think there is a book coming out for newer exam, SCWCD 1.4, by Kathy & Bert.

[Padma Raman]

Hi All,
Thank you so much for all the suggestions. You are really great. Thanks you so much for all your time.
Hari,
Special thanks to you as you have very clearly explained and cleared all my doubts. I think that I should do Certified Developer and one of SCWCD or SCBCD after that(or simultaneuosly).
Thank you so much once again.
Regards,
Raman

[Harvinder Singh]

Hi Padma,Don't worry there are many who won't even think of taking the exams
in such a scenario.In the ranch even the 100% is less since there will be many who will be with u on the top.Hey today i found the first negative point about this site.
Hari Vignesh Padmanaban thanks for making my job easier since I was confused about which certification to take next.

[Andrew Monkhouse]

Hi Raman,
Congratuations on passing .
I am not sure which SCJP book by Kathy Sierra & Bert Bates you read, there are two of them:

Sun Certified Programmer & Developer for Java 2 Study Guide (Exam 310-035 & 310-027)

Head First Java

If you were enjoying the Head First one, then when you get around to doing the SCBCD and SCWCD exams, you will be able to read the Head First books for those subjects as well:

Head First EJB

Head First SCWCD (Due out in June this year)

So doing the SCJD first will have an added bonus - it means that you can hold of SCWCD until the Head First book comes out .
As for books for the SCJD - if you have the first book by Kathy Sierra & Bert Bates (Sun Certified Programmer & Developer for Java 2 Study Guide (Exam 310-035 & 310-027)) then it has several chapters at the end which will help you understand the exam at a high level (general good programming practices, what you need to learn, what the examiners are looking for).
If you don't have that book, then the best book I have seen for SCJD is The Sun Certified Java Developer Exam with J2SE 1.4 by Max Habibi et al. (Max is also a bartender here.) This appears to be the most popular book in the SCJD Forum. Come on over and say hello - we are a friendly bunch in there.
As several people have already commented, doing the SCJD will give you real programming experience. You have to develop and submit code, technical documentation, and user documentation based on specifications provided by Sun. Learning how to do all this properly will be of enormous help in whatever job you finally get.
Because you are submitting an assignment, it will take up to 4 - 6 weeks from when you submit it to when you get the results. So if you are considering doing the SCJD and one of the SCBCD or SCWCD then I recommend doing the SCJD first. That way you can continue on with the other exams while waiting for your results.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Regards, Andrew
[ March 20, 2004: Message edited by: Andrew Monkhouse ]

[Padma Raman]

Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your reply. Even though I want to do SCJD, I am so afraid to do it. Maybe, I have to say " I think I can, I think I can" . :-).I think I can do it with the help of java ranchers.
When I approached one of my friend for possible intern/trainee position for Java programmer at his office, he told me that all his employer wants is J2E(E. I know what is J2EE). He also asked me whether I have any certification in that?

I surfed the web and found out that IBM offers a certification in that. How valuable is this course? How difficult this exam is?Do you have anything to say?
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
Raman

[Andrew Monkhouse]

Hi Raman,
I have no knowledge at all of the IBM J2EE certification.
Personally I would be suspicious of anyone who has a generic "J2EE" requirement - what exactly do they use / require? I would hazard a guess that most employers, when talking about J2EE, are actually talking about EJBs (SCBCD) and JSP/Servlets (SCWCD). Depening on what they employer's real needs are, you may be better off with the specific certificate.
Regards, Andrew

[Thomas De Vos]

Many congratulations and well done for your husband too

[Padma Raman]

Hi Andrew,
Here is the link about J2EE I was talking about. I think it is called IBM test 484. What you you have mentioned is right. It looks like it is a combination of SCBCD and SCWCD and some stuff like connectivity.
http://www.whizlabs.com/j2ee/j2ee-details.html
Thank you very much for your input.
Regards,
Raman

[Bert Bates]

Padma -
Congratulations on a great job!
Bert