Background: I've got a lot of experience as a programmer mostly in C/C++ with a bit of
Java and a million smaller bits of things. I've been working on other (non-programming) things for the last couple of years and most programming I've done is in PHP. Anyway, I was put forward for a position which required java skills. Aced the interview, but fell down in the technical java section. Maybe got about 1/2 the questions wrong. For instance, I didn't know java had a hashtable, so had to answer the questions via general hash-table knowledge. Well, they liked me, but wanted me to get up to speed before I started, so made it a condition of employment that I got my
SCJP. I managed to convince them that I might need two bites of the cherry, so we agreed I had a month to get it. This was last monday (9 days ago), and i start tomorrow. I sat my certification this afternoon and got 83%. Phew!
So, what I did:
First I did some programming exercises, just to cover the basics, and get me back to speed. The Cattle Drive exercises were perfect, and as I didn't have time for the 24 hour turnaround, so just compared my output with the given results. I only had time to do the first 8, but that made me feel comfortable in making java do what I want. I think the whole lot would have been worthwhile if I'd have time.The only book I could find locally was Brogden and Green's Exam Cram - but I can't recommend it too highly. It was brief, focused on the exam and easy to work through. I can't imagine there's a shorter book that covers the subject, so it was perfect for me. I read it through chapter by chapter, did the exercises at the end of each chapter and used them to revise material I had misunderstood in the chapter.By monday morning I had finised the book, then I hit Rules Roundup pretty hard. Got to admit at first I was getting 7-10/12 right, and feeling pretty nervous. Again, used my mistakes to go back and revise sections of the book.Monday and tuesday I did mock exams, in semi-realistic mode. However, if I found a question I had no idea about, then I went and re-read the text. If one I was unsure about, then I played with working code till I was sure. Any questions I got wrong, I first went back and relooked at the original question, to see if I could see my mistake. If I couldn't see the problem, then I'd read the solution and the text until I was clear.any points that caused me difficulty in revision, I made a note and revised later.This morning I did one last practice exam, and then went through all the notes of weaknesses and revised the concepts. During the exam I did two passes, redoing the questions a second time, without looking at my answer. Quite a few times I picked a different answer the second time, and if so, I studied the question to see which answer was right. Paradoxically, I felt the exam was harder than any I had done, but I got a higher score than I did in any practice, so I shouldn't complain.
That's it. I hit this site for quite a few bits of help, though I didn't have time to use the forums. This is a great resource, so hopefully this post is giving a little back. Oh, and paypal too, as soon as I can access my home PC.
thanks, and good luck to those who are studying.
