SCJP 1.5 � failed miserably

[Oscar Wu]

52% score.

I have about 4 months of Java experience; I�ve been studying for the last 2 months from K&B 1.5 book (by the way is a great book). I took the test yesterday and had a really hard time with questions about threads and collections.

I�ve failed once, but I am willing to try it again. This time I want to take the 1.4 test, since I am planning to go for the SCJD right after this, and I�ve heard is easier to pass.

- Is there section of the K&B 1.5 that I should skip or not focus as much since it won�t be included in the 1.4 test? or should I just buy the 1.4 book?

- Any pointers that could help me use the stuff I studied for the 1.5 when I take the 1.4?

- What are the differences between these two tests?

Thanks!
:roll:
[ February 23, 2006: Message edited by: Oscar Rodriguez ]

[Bert Bates]

Hey Oscar,

Here are some ideas:

I took the test yesterday and had a really hard time with questions about threads and collections.

Well the 1.4 exam has these topics too - the collections questions in the 1.4 exam might be a little easier, but I think the threads questions will be about as hard.

This time I want to take the 1.4 test, since I am planning to go for the SCJD right after this, and I�ve heard is easier to pass.

Wow - I actually think you're pretty close to passing the 1.5, and imho it's way more valuable!

- Is there section of the K&B 1.5 that I should skip or not focus as much since it won�t be included in the 1.4 test? or should I just buy the 1.4 book?

If you do decide to go back to the 1.4 exam (but don't, it's a trap ) i think you can still use the 1.5 book. The two things that aren't in the 1.5 book that come up in the 1.4 exam are bit shifting and the Math class, and you can probably find other free resources here at the ranch to help with those two.

Then you can skip these sections from the 1.5 book (because they're not on the 1.4 exam):

skip enums, enhanced for, javabeans, autoboxing, init blocks, i/o, regex, printf, serialization, dates, numbers, generics, javac, classpaths, jars...

Oh man, as I write this list I really think you should just study 1.5 a little more, you've already studied ALL the topics I've just mentioned

hth,

Bert

[Chengwei Lee]

I haven't take SCJP 1.5 before, so I can't comment on whether SCJP 1.4 would be easier to pass. But I would seriously advise you against taking SCJP 1.4, instead, look at your score report, see which are your weak areas, work on them, and try SCJP 1.5 again.

You would never know when J2SE 1.4 is going to EOL. Mustang is coming out soon, so the safest bet is to hop onto Tiger, get certified in it rather than in SCJP 1.4.

In terms of money, why not certify in SCJP 1.5 since both are of the same price, and SCJP 1.5 is new. Furthermore, would you rather spend money again only to upgrade from 1.4 to 1.5?

Since you're planning to take SCJD, all the more you should do your SCJP 1.5. Because you would then be able to do the assignment in Tiger. Besides, you would need that threading & collection skills that you lacked in SCJD as well.

I personally felt that with a certain amount of real-life coding experience, it helps you in preparing for SCJP. 4 months seems a bit too short to me, unless you'd been coding really intensively, or you had been doing so since your school days.

Understanding the concepts & applying them to help you in your work is more important than just trying to pass the exams. Passing the exams is just a way to assess your technical capabilities, and the process of preparing the exams, will help you get better prepared for doing your work.

Don't be too upset over the results, you'll do better next round

[Christophe Verré]

Yep, I'd not recommend either going back to 1.4
You've put so much effort into 1.5. Go for it.
Don't be in a hurry, and focus on your weak points (you've said you had hard time on Threads and Collections).
Good luck.

[Naveen Kollipara]

Hey don't go for 1.4
U have already done a great work for 1.5
Just check ur report and work on weak areas.
This time u will definitely get it.

One more thing this time it will take same time for u to go for 1.4 r 1.5
Ofcourse price is also not an exception
Waiting for ur Success reply
Bye

[Oscar Wu]

Thank you all for your support. I have already scheduled the 1.5 test, I'll take it in 60 days. That leaves room for 1440 hours of Java passion.

My wife already accuses me of having an affair with Java, but I know I'll pass the test the next time around.

I'll post my results when I take the test. Thanks again

[Alan Hermin]

hi all..
i will study the scjp5 ,to challenge my selfe on the java....this is great thing... and i hope to get high score..........
bye.

[Chengwei Lee]

Originally posted by Oscar Wu:
I'll take it in 60 days.

Looking forward to your good news

[Manuel Comnenus]

Hi Oscar,

This reply might be too late for you, but here goes...

The K&B book is the only book that I recommend for the SCJP 5 exam. The Mughal book is excellent for the 1.4 exam. I did not have a chance to review the K&B book for 1.4. If you decide to stick with the SCJP 5 exam, I don't recommend the Mughal book since the SCJP 5 exam covers a lot of new material and the SCJP exam might cover some of the old material differently than in the past.

Steve

[Guido Medina]

Hi Oscar,

I passed few days ago the SCJP 1.4, but, my position is different, I have on hands experience on Java (5+ years), I will tell you and story which I hope it might help you.

My first Java application was a chat (multi-threading, collection based), do you know what I read at that time (1999)?, The Java Tutorial from Sun Microsystems (Which you can find in CHM format; google "java tutorial chm"), I would recommend you you stick the K&B book, but before you read it again, try these two trais: Threads & Collections, remember, K&B is not about teaching you Java, is about to form your Java knowledge to pass the exam.

DON'T GIVE UP, SHI... HAPPENS,

AND HAVE REALLY GOOD LUCK,

Guido.

[Tiffiny Yang]

Hi Oscar,

What's average score when you did the K&B Mock Exams and Self Test after each chapter

Did you do WhizLab?