Hello,
This is my first post in javaranch...
I have cleared SCWCD for
J2EE 5 with 85% last week.
First of all my sincere thanks to Kathy, Bryan & Bert for bringing out HFSJ - an awesome book for those who are preparing for the exam. Many thanks to fellow ranchers for posting their experiences, tips & guidelines.
I have been working in the j2ee web area for quite some time. I started preparing for this exam last year but took a break in between due to project pressure. I took my darling (HFSJ book) exactly two months (May 2008) back & now I call myself an SCWCD
My exam preparation strategy.
1. Studied HFSJ 1.4 edition around 3 times - Excellent Book. Went through the latest version of the book for newer topics added.
2. Studied Hanumanth Deshmukh SCWCD book once (I would call it a quick glance)
3. Went through all that I can go through in the internet about SCWCD
4. Study Notes by Mikalai Zaikin - Very good one
5.
Servlet &
JSP spec
Mock Exams
1. Took the tests available at javaranch
2. Took the tests available at jdiscuss.com
3. The simulator of jwebplus by enthuware. It is an excellent one. Majority of the questions I got in exam are almost equivalent to the one the tool gives you. I cleared all 8 tests and got above 80% on an average. My real exam score was also above 80%. In that way this tool is a treat for any one who want to score a good percentage. The concepts & explanation provided are also great. The exhibit type questions provided by the tool is very similar in usage like the real exam. I made the mistake of not going through the explanation given for the wrong questions because of which I scored 85%.I would definitely suggest this for any one who would opt for a good score.
Few tips
1. Go through the HFSJ book religiously, cover all practice tests, sharpen your pencil exercises and all the questions in every chapter
2. You can go thru Hanumanth Deshmukh Book as well - It covers the topics in detail. Few topics like c out, dynamic attributes are covered detail in this book (they are covered in newer edition HFSJ book).
3. Go thru the servlet & JSP spec atleast once
4. And most of all, browse every single
thread of javaranch containing SCWCD in it [:-)]
5. Take the two Final
Coffee Cram Exams present in HFSJ (previous edition & the latest edition). It is a real brainer as it dont give you the number of correct answers. I failed the 1st time. :-( It is damn tough. But if you pass it you are sure to get very good scores in the exam.
6. Professional Simulators - I would suggest Jwebplus definitely - The customer support service is very good, the level of difficulty is equivalent / more than the real exam & the questions database + explanation provided is very good.
7. I would not recommend going through dumps etc as it doesn't help you in any way. You cannot get good score if you are not thorough with the API within the objectives.
If any one need any guidance/help towards this exam you are open to ping me anytime.
I need some guidance from fellow members regarding the next exam that is viable for web application developers in j2ee...
I have many plans but dont know (confused) to select the lucrative one.
1. Prepare for SCBCD - EJB
2. Prepare for SCJWS - Web Services
3. Prepare for
Struts (Though I know it before)
4. Prepare for Spring
5. Prepare for Hibernate
Also any certifying group for Struts, Spring & Hibernate area ? Response highly solicited.
Cheers,
Ashik
SCJP 1.4 - 75%
SCWCD 5.0 - 85%
