Cleared SCPJ2 With 98%

[Tony Alicea]

I Just passed the "Sun Certified Java Programmer for the Java 2 Platform" exam with 98% because the computer could not count up to 100%! Ha ha !
It must have been an extra quotation mark that I may have included here or there, who cares!?
Certainly NOT my next employer! (Or else I won't work for her!) :-)
For now, and as the song from Katrina and the Waves (1989) goes:
"I'm Walking On Sunshine!"
I'll have more for you tomorrow... MAYBE. YOU understand, right!?!
Gracias!

[Tony Alicea]

OK: This is what went on with me today at the SCPJ2P exam:
First "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"...
OK, I Meant "Flicker!" on 10th...
Although I got a 15 inch monitor (good), the flicker was evident. You *must* learn to filter that out if your system has it. Your final score is more important.
Be prepared to answer (or not) some marketing permission questions on the part of Sun about you to the effect "May we inform your Mother of your score?"
THIS HAPPENS WHILE THE CLOCK IS TICKING AGAINST YOU. There *is* a test run about anything else to get you familiar with the testing system BUT once you START your test, the marketing questions TAKE UP FROM YOUR TIME: You can see the clock ticking!
Then the questions began: The first questions (remember that they are drawn at random from a pool) were exceedingly long and required answers very different from each other and in my case, threw me off into the realm of doubt and I thought to myself "will I be able to answer many of these types of questions correctly, considering that I came here to GET 100%!?") :-)
Well: Take it from me: DON'T DESPAIR!! From all the good books that you have read about taking the exam, remember that you've got PLENTY of time!
Just MARK those questions and the system will make it very easy for you to get back to them, AS YOU GAIN CONFIDENCE as you go. PLEASE DO THAT!
Don't let the exam intimidate you!
I say that because I took all the respectable and also not so, mock exams on the Internet that I could find and some types or forms of questions, I had not seen and they appeared in this test: They were long in code and not so trivial to figure out!
BUT! I took the advice that I just gave: Just wait. Go On with the ones you're sure (many of them, *IF* you know Java) AND BY ALL MEANS READ CAREFULLY!! Especially in MULTIPLE correct answer type of question: You should know by now that if you get ONLY ONE wrong, THERE GOES the whole question (sorry for maybe repeating what you already know).
I took almost ALL of the time to "Do My Own Thing" (as we used to say in the 1960s) which was to get the highest score. So I used ALL of the time (minus 4 minutes, when I ended the test) to just continue until ALL exam questions and answers were reviewed at least once. I CHANGED TWO QUESTIONS (maybe 3) during that pass!
Finally I decided: This Is it!! "Go For It!!" So I pressed the button with the label that reads "Done" or "end" or...) and...
The score came up: 98% ! GREAT!
Obviously the system didn't like some quotes on one String related question... Whatever, I DON'T CARE! Ha ha! It was a "Good Game"!
My comments to Sun are:
As the WOPR computer said near the end of the film "War Games":
"Shall We Play Another Game?"
Joshua
[ November 22, 2003: Message edited by: Tony Alicea ]

[Anonymous]

Congratulations, Fahntaastic score! Can u give any idea the breakdown of the topics covered (approximate number of questions in each area). Did u get many questions on I/O? Anything about CardLayout? The Collections interface? Thanks, Joe

[gunjan]

Tony:
Congrats. You deserved it.
1. Were the code questions really confusing or easy to decipher. 2. How much of mock exams helped you.
Regards
Gunjan

[Tony Alicea]

Thanks, Joe!
"Congratulations, Fahntaastic score! Can u give any idea the breakdown of the topics covered (approximate number of questions in each area). Did u get many questions on I/O? Anything about CardLayout? The Collections interface? Thanks, Joe)"



Forget about CardLayout. I say so because of what you will read in R&H's and plus because I didn't get a question on it AND because I have never heard of anyone getting one.
I/O questions were FEW: Only what the OBJECTIVES for the Java 2 exam say.
BUT REMEMBER: The questions are drawn from a pool at random!

[Jim Yingst]

Congratulations, Tony! Great job. All the careful study paid off, eh?

[Tony Alicea]

Yes Jim! (Are U Canadian because of the Eh! ?!? :-) )
Since you asked, and with the understanding that we all someday want to be what you are now (a paid Java programmer!),
No it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be! (The exam.)
BUT... there was this topless bar (with naked college student young ladies who are JUST earning some easy money towards their higher education) nearby, that I thought "If I finish before my time time, I'll go there..." etc.... (BTW, I live in the USA.)
Well, I did not see any naked young female college students that night! :-)
Which makes me wonder: Do male Java programmers have young female groupies?
Oh Well!!
http://alicea.org
[This message has been edited by Tony Alicea (edited February 14, 2000).]

[maha anna]

Congrats Tony! You are a good sport and YOU DID IT. Too bad! loosing 1 question makes the %-=2; Congrats again. We hope you stick around in future also...
regds
Maha Anna

[Jim Yingst]

I'm from Arizona actually. Another nice sunny place to live, but without Orlando's humidity. As for groupies, I have to say I haven't noticed any (and it's not like I haven't been looking.) Of course, we have a very small company with a programming staff of... errr... one. So who knows, that may change if we grow.
Oh, and it's good to hear that you support higher education like that.

[paul wheaton]

Way to go Tony! You beat my score by 1%!
And, if you read the forums here, you would see my message about how I got two wrong and one of them involved putting quotes in a response for a String.

[Anonymous]

Wow Tony, way to go. 98% is a dream score for any of us following this discussion group.Hope to follow you example and if possible,beat your score.

[shatabdi]

congrats Tony, what a great score !
How many questions were there from AWT and gridbagLayout ?

[Tony Alicea]

Surprisingly (for me) the AWT was barely covered. On question about the GridBagLayout. Easy, just learn the relationship and difference between sizing and positioning in that layout. Study the fields in the class. But don't become an expert on it! (At least not for the exam! )

[J Maruti]

well. belated congrats !!!

[Anonymous]

Thats super Tony
Thats a excellent score score.

[Tony Alicea]

Thanks Everyone!

[uday]

hi alica,
congrats....
can u be more specific on the topics been left in the exams.

[Tony Alicea]

The topics are very well represented in the Roberts, Heller and Ernest book THE COMPLETE JAVA 2 CERTIFICATION STUDY GUIDE. Although I would not recommend that book as one to learn Java from, I think it prepares one pretty well for the test. It's no surprise since Roberts and/or Heller had to do with the making of the real exam.



Make sure you get a high score in their "Test Yourself" questions which, BTW, are the ones in the CD-ROM (they could have used different ones).



By now my "standard" (ha!) recommendation is that book plus the JAVA 2 EXAM CRAM by William Brogden.

[vijay]

Congratulations....Now get the best pay...Wish u all the best!!
We are two friends preparing together for the exam.
Its almost 15 days since we have started Java. I would like to
know whether is it really necessary to practice writing Java
programs and compiling and running them on a PC or simply cramming is sufficient to clear the SJPC.
Regards.
PS : once again :
System.out.println("Congratulations");

[Rajiv Ahuja]

I know you didn't ask me that question but I'm in best position to answer it so I WILL
Keep the JDK handy and use it only when you are not convinced that whatever Mock Exam or for that matter any other resource is saying is not correct.
I never wrote any program but always cut and pasted available code snippets if I'm confused.
Bottom line..I cleared the exam with 86%

[Lucy C]

Hmmm, I've always found that writing my own little applications has really helped me to learn how Java works and remember the language rules. I think it's particularly helpful when there's a confusing issue (eg where Java inserts a default constructor, how certain layout things work, threads, etc) - if you've written the code yourself, it's easy to see how making changes affects the output, you can stick in print statements, and so on. I can't imagine being able to pass SCJP myself by just learning things off.
We'll see how my approach works soon enough, anyway - I sit the exam next Friday. I'm sure I'll be doing some cramming between now and then!

[Tony Alicea]

Let me cut to the chase and tell you my opinion on what books to buy if all you are interested in is just passing the SCPJ2 exam. Remember that the minimum score for passing is 71%. And the exam consists of 59 questions.
OK: These are my e-recoms:
1) THE COMPLETE JAVA 2 CERTIFICATION STUDY GUIDE by Roberts, Heller and Ernest
and
2) JAVA 2 EXAM CRAM by William Brogden
Of course there are other books in the market but I cannot "testify" for nor against them for the simple reason that I don't have them except as noted below).
Ah yes, except for, although "obsolete" (not really by any means), I took the two tests in the Barry Boone's Java 1.1 Certification book. They were very good. Highly recommended. The two tests in the book.

[Lucy C]

Thanks Tony - I've been using the Roberts and Heller book for exam study, but I might try and locate the other one this weekend.
Congratulations on your score, btw!

[Anonymous]

Hi Tony,
Congrats! You recommended 2 books. In India,the book by Brogden is not available. I have only R & H. So, can you tell me a way? How far that "Exam Cram" was useful to u in the exam?

[Tony Alicea]

That JAVA 2 EXAM CRAM book was very helpful. It is a great complement to R&H's... Are you sure AMAZON.COM cannot ship to India?

[Anonymous]

Hi Tony,
I cant afford for shipping the book thru amazon.com. Also I dont know whether it will reach my remote address or not? Any way I got the book from the same author Bill Brogden. I got that book titled "Java2 Exam Preparation Guide" from one of the book stores here. Hope it is enough.
Thanx,
Shanker

[sunil]

Congrats Tony for passing the SCPJ2 with 98%.

[Ramana Namuduri]

Congrats, Thats really a great achievement. Have you ever expected such a big score? Can you please give me what sort of questions you were asked in the exam?

[Tony Alicea]

What sort of questions?
Sure. The sort of questions that are suggested in the objectives.
The questions in http://www.software.u-net.com/ are as close as you can get, and ALSO, the ones at
http://www.lanw.com/java/javacert/

[Anonymous]

WOULD YOU MIND ME ASKING WHETHER U ARE A C/C++ PROGRAMMER?
Surya(Acting as Tony Alicea)

[Anonymous]

More on the Marketing questions at the beginning of the test...
You cannot decline the first question and continue with the test. I selected "decline" and "ok" which brought me to another screen that had an "exit" button and a redisplay button. I then selected the "exit" button which took me totally out of the exam. I could not get back into the exam an had to wait an hour for the exam center to redownload the test. So I was a little rattled before I even started the exam .
I passed with an 83% and probably would have done better with more preparation but I need the "Sun Certifed Java Programmer" on my resume immediately. Hopefully this will help with the job search.

[SaiRam NageshKumar]

Dear Tony,
I may be too late in finding you at the acme position in success since I am a novice one to this site. Any way have my heartly congratulations! Its an amazing score for the life time. I hope it was the gift to you for the Valentine's day. I hope yu enjoyed with that.
Any how, I would like to go for the same. I read all ur messages and the replies. Good and prompt responses. Its fantastic. I hope to have few tips to go ahead for the repitition of ur story by me.
Looking after your resp..!
Once again I wish you to achieve the better rankings in nearest future!
Good Luck!

[Aparanji Raju]

Congrats Tony!
I am very happy for u.At the same time I am greatly encouraged by your success as well as the many success stories that i come accross in the Big Saloon.Its the first time I am going to write SCJP exam,lots of time I get nervous but i am greatly encouraged and get optimistic everytime I come accross SCJP-success story...though yours was extraordinary.
Regards
Aparanji

[Kapil Reddy]

Great work Tony

[raja kanak]

really great

[Arun Maalik]

great work sir

[Matt Russell]

Yeah, good score...but, um, this appears to have happened six years ago.

[Pankaj Shet]

Exellent Score!
Did you appear for scjp platform 5.0?
If yes,can you recommend me a good book?Can you give me a good guidence,on how to prepare for the same?
If you have any good study material can you mail me?
(any platform which you appeared)
My E-mail address is [e-mail].
Anyway,Congratulations,I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart.
It's really brilliant work.
Keep it up.
All the best for your future.
Thank you.

[Mikalai Zaikin]

:roll:

[Tony Alicea]

I just want to take this time and thank Paul and the staff of 2000 for helping me not only get a 98% score in the SCPJ certification test on Valentines Day 2000 but in staying at the same job for 10 years now!

How Time Flies!