VisualAge certification

[Harpreet Singh]

Has anyone on the ranch taken VAJ certification? If yes
1. Could you post what books/tutorials you used to study for it?
2. How difficult is the real test compared to ICE?
3. Like DB2, are there any promotional vouchers available for VAJ?
The only reason I want to take this test is because I want to certify my knowledge in UML but IBM would certify you only if you take VAJ or WSAD test as well.

[Peter Reinhardt]

the vaj certification will be redrawn by the end of this year (see VAJ Certification). So it is quite useless. VAJ is a dead product anyway, switch to WSAD or eclipse.
Peter.

[Luciano Queiroz]

I definitely think that it is a big waste of time stufy for the VAJ exam.
Instead, prepare for the WSAD exam. Download some redbooks from IBM and rapidly you can learn to use this new IDE.

[Harpreet Singh]

Guys,
I am planning to study less than 5 hours for this!
I am already getting 75-80% on the ICE test. I want to cover a few more topics to be safe.
Let me state this again. I hate the idea of certifying for an IDE. I want certification for UML. Doing it for WSAD will mean months because I have no experience using it.
Once again if someone can provide helpful info for VAJ test ....

[garth schneider]

I used "Effective VisualAge for Java version 3" by Scott Stanchfield. It includes info up to ver 3.5. Not much changed in 4.0 in regard to what is being tested for. There is no EJB stuff in test and that is where changes were. I also used "Enterprise Development with VisualAge for Java Version 3" by Dale Nilsson. These books got into the VCE and GUI development. Also sections on ENVY.
I was in your shoes when I got certified in VisualAge. I had used the product for a few years and felt that it was a way to get a fast certification in April 2002. When I took my exam I was not aware that IBM was going to expire it in December. The day or so after I took exam IBM announced it was going to be expired in June of 2002. They then changed it to December. WSAD was just coming out. I have since also gone on to get WSAD certified. I am now certified in 2 Solution Developer's, VAJ and WSAD, as well.
I do agree though that VAJ is dead. By December the certification will expire. Knowing IBM, if you pass today you will get your certification in mail sometime in Jan of 2003 and it will be expired already. All of the techology that you are studying is obsolete. WSAD is where you need to be anyway. You are better off at this point switching course and going for WSAD (IMHO)....
Good Luck in whatever you decide
Garth
[ September 12, 2002: Message edited by: garth schneider ]

[Harpreet Singh]

Garth,
Thank you so much for your post! Good to know how long it takes IBM to send certificates! If it really takes that long I might as well wait a few months and get WSAD cert.
Since you were new to WSAD and got a cert, can you briefly post your experience from start to getting WSAD cert?
Thanks

[garth schneider]

Harpreet,
I was a big fan of VisualAge. I really felt bad when IBM decided to stop developing VAJ. I understand it was written in Smalltalk and was very hard to change over to new JDK's. It was stuck at jdk 1.2.2 and would never advance from that point.
Last March I joined a IBM partner company. They needed me to be up to speed in WSAD. I started to really work with it around June of this year. The 2 redbooks that I used were "Web Services Wizardry with WebSphere Studio Application Developer" SG24-6292-00 and "WebSphere Studio Application Developer Programming Guide" SG24-6585-00. I right away got a free copy of CVS for version control and used that as a stand alone Version Control on my Window's 2000 system. When I installed WSAD I asked that it be connected to CVS. I am also studying now for my Sun Certified Web Component Developer so I read "More Servlets and JavaServer Pages" by Marty Hall isbn 0130676144 and "SCWCD Exam Study Kit" by Hanumant Deshmukh isbn 1930110596. This helped me because the test does get into Servlet and JSP development concepts. Those books gave me proper background in this area for test. Unlike VAJ which was only Java development, WSAD gets into Web development as well. A lot of time if you understand underlying concepts you can rule out rediculous answers right away even if you do not know the answer right off.
I think you made a good decision. You are putting your resources in a great direction. WSAD really is a great tool. It is rated as one of the best IDE's ever. It is easier to learn then VAJ in some way's. It is a file based system as opposed to the repository based system that VAJ is.
Also the ICE test is really close to the real test I thought. Do the mock test a lot. Also go to online help inside of WSAD and read through it. It explains a lot of stuff in there as well.

Also when you decide to go for Certified Enterprise Developer you would have to take IBM 488 if you took VisualAge for Java (IBM 283). The IBM #488 will be expiring in December as well. You would never be able to get there in time. By taking WSAD you are in line to take IBM #158 for Skill 3B in JCert. You will be able to take a coffee break at least before you start on Enterprise developer.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck
Garth
[ September 13, 2002: Message edited by: garth schneider ]

[Harpreet Singh]

Garth,
Thank you so much for your input!
Have you considered "IBM Websphere Application Server Bible" by Bryon Kataoka, et al. I was browsing through it in the bookstore and it seemed like a good buy. It has chapters on websphere, WSAD and websphere admin. Sort of catch all.
So have you taken the SCWCD as well?
Thanks
Harpreet
PS: I don't know what's the deal with redbooks. There is never a discount on any of them

[garth schneider]

Harpreet,
I have not taken the SCWCD yet. I plan on taking it in the next few months.
If you want free pdf versions of the redbooks go to:
http://publib-b.boulder.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/portals/
you should be able to type in the sg number I gave you. You can bring it up in Adobe and then save it back to your disk. They are open to public.
Thank you for the lead on the IBM WebSphere Application Server Bible. I did not know that the book existed.
Garth

[Yujun Liang]

May I use the following combination to be certified as am IBM Enterprise Developer? IBM hasn't answered my question regarding this.
SCJP2
OOADUML
WSAD
J2EE Connectivity
BEA WebLogic Server 7
Thanks.
[ September 15, 2002: Message edited by: Yujun Liang ]

[garth schneider]

Yujun,
The sequence you show would be good for Enterprise Developer under JCert. However if you were going to get it from IBM you would need to use IBM 158 exam. For BEA you could get a Enterprise Developer with exams 0B0-100 or 0B0-200. Check out www.jcert.org. You will need to do BEA tests and expect a certificate from BEA instead of IBM. If you have already completed WSAD (IBM 157) you may want to persue IBM 158 and then you can get Certification from IBM. Since it is under the Jcert iniative you will be respected by both companies irregardless of who you get the cert from.
I hope I answered your question.
Garth
Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform
IBM Certified Specialist for VisualAge for Java V4.0
IBM Certified Solution Developer for VisualAge for Java V4.0
IBM Certified Specialist for WebSphere Studio Application Developer V4.0.3
IBM Certified Solution Developer for WebSphere Studio Application Developer V4.0.3
[ September 15, 2002: Message edited by: garth schneider ]

[Yujun Liang]

garth,
Thanks, but according to jCert.org, it seems that I can be certified as BEA, Sun, IBM as long as I finish the 5 exams.
I checked with BEA, 0b0-300 is now equivalent to 0b0-100, 200, and it makes sense since I think jCert.org is not up to date.
Regards

[garth schneider]

Yujun,
I think you are correct in your statement:
"Thanks, but according to jCert.org, it seems that I can be certified as BEA, Sun, IBM as long as I finish the 5 exams."
That statement is correct. My point is that you choose whether it is BEA,Sun or IBM by the test you take. If you take IBM 158 you will be IBM, and if you take BEA's exam you will be BEA and if you take Sun's exam you will be Sun.

Hope that helps
Garth

[Yujun Liang]

Thank you very much.

[Yujun Liang]

Yujun,
You may have misinterpreted the jCert Roadmap. The following exams result in a BEA Enterprise Developer, NOT an IBM WebSphere Enterprise Developer (note that the "0b0-300" exam is on the "BEA" line of the table, hence the resultant cert is a BEA certification:
310-025 Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2
000-486 IBM OOAD UML
000-157 IBM WebSphere AD
000-483 IBM J2EE Connection
0b0-300 BEA WebLogic Server
Once you are a BEA Enterprise Developer, to become an IBM WebSphere Enterprise Developer, you still need to take one of the following exams:
- To be "Java-based", you would take test 000-488
- To be "WebSphere-based", you would need to take 000-158.
Or, if you don't want to be a BEA Enterprise Developer, you can take the following exams:
310-025 Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2
000-486 IBM OOAD UML
000-157 IBM WebSphere AD, -or- 000-283 IBM VisualAge for Java
000-483 IBM J2EE Connection
000-488 or 000-158
Oracle is no longer a part of jCert. Please visit http://www-1.ibm.com/certify/news/20020408e.shtml for details. As a result, you would have to look at the Oracle website to see if they still accept the IBM exams toward their Enterprise Developer certification (if they have one).
We hope this information helps.
Kind Regards. la/clt
Customer Support, Professional Certification from IBM
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