Test 287 vs test 484

[Patrik Nilsson]

I have recently passed test 287 and will now start preparing for test 484.

By looking at the objectives they seem quite similar? Is there anyone who has taken both tests who can compare them and give some tips...=)

[Patrik Nilsson]

no one? It's kind of urgent since they will withdraw the exam in less than 2 months.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[trivikram Kumar]

Patrik:

Even I am in the same situation.

Posted for the same, but did not get any reply..:-(

I think the syllabus is almost the same..I am starting to read on JCA and JAAS tutorials and trying to take the exam.

I feel the API's for JDBC and others is too huge to just mugup.

So thought would read on these 2 topics + whatever we prepared for 287 and give it a shot.

Thanks,
[ November 15, 2006: Message edited by: trivikram Kumar ]

[Patrik Nilsson]

Ok we ned to help each other out here then. =)
These are my thoughts:
I think that the EJB section will be about the same so I won't spend so much time on that. I have taken webcomponents before so I will look through it a bit but no hard core studying, same with clients.

I will try to go through some design patterns and J2EE architecture but I am not sure where to find any good inforamtion about connectivity services, do you have any good resurces there?

Let me know if you go up and take the exam!!

[trivikram Kumar]

Hi Patrik:

Yep...we need to help each other ...:-))

Yeah..what you said about EJB and Web is almost the same, and I am also planning to do the same.

Regarding connectivity resources , I feel the 10th chapter in Kushner is good enough.

Also, the tutorial mentioned under the "Training Resources" for JCA and JAAS are good enough, to go through...(in ibm.com site)

They have API's explained well..

I am not sure what to read for JAXP , and from where to read from.

Please let me know the resources if you have any.

Thanks and all the best in your prep !
[ November 20, 2006: Message edited by: trivikram Kumar ]

[Patrik Nilsson]

How does it go for you? Have you taken the exam yet?

I am planning on going up soon so any last minute tips are welcome
I took the magnet mock exam yesterday and got a 75% and I have also gone through whizabs exam prep kit now.

[trivikram Kumar]

Hi Patrik:

I am yet to take the exam.

So how was Whizlabs when compared to sampletest?

What materials could you read for JAXP,JCA, JAAS..etc.

Good that you could get 75% in sample test, I looked at it and I could get around the same..

Also saw from forums that the real test is harder tahn the sample test..so kind of worried...

Wish you all the best...

Please suggest me what all materilas you could read ....and your whizlabs score...

Thanks,

[Patrik Nilsson]

I took the test last week, got 68% so I barely passed.

I found no good resources for JAAS but the whizlabs exam. The real exam was a bit tricky I must say. This is what I can say to help you.

The exam was a little tougher than I expected, I thought I knew WebComponents and EJB:s but they managed to find several questions where I had no clue. For the first time, the time limit(90 min) was an issue. It took me 60 minutes to go through and answer all the questions but I only had 30 minutes for reviewing. I used the entire 90 minutes I can say.

The connectivity part was the toughest for me, you have to know your JMS really well. There were questions about TopicPublishers QueueSessons, when to use which, Durable vs Non-Durable, which object does what(QueueConnection, QueueSession, QueueSender)

Not many questions about JAAS, you have to know that XAConnectionInterface supports both Distributed Transactions and Connection Pooling. No questions about LogInModule, Several Questions about Database Questions, which drivers that requires client side installation(JDBC-ODBC + Native Protocol Partly Java Driver) Differences between Prepared Statement and Statement, differences between executeUpdate(Insert, Update, Delete) and execute(Select). One question about Subjects and Principals.

The questions about J2EEArchitecture had a very mixed level of difficulty, they used several patterns I never heard about, but some questions were real easy(Use Servlet as Controller, Dispatcher,JSP for view).

EJBQuestions were farily simple and they didn't try to trick you that much, Must know lifecycle methods, which bean to use where, transactions, ejb references.

WebComponent, questions about Sessionhandling, Servlet Listeners, RequestDispatching, JSP with XML, Error handling. Fairly tricky!

Client Development, Use JNDI to locate the resource, narrow it and cast it appropriately.

Please let me know if you have any other questions!

[Patrik Nilsson]

Sorry I forgot some of your questions.

I think the whizlab exam was much tougher and detailed than the real exam. I got around 65-70% on a normal test there. So if you know those questions and have a good understanding of J2EE architecture it should not be a problem.

I didn't find any good resources on JAAS and JAXP except for the whizlabs.

I found a couple of things in the magnetmock exam that I think are wrong, this is how it should be I think:

PK Class is optional
Finder methods are implemented at deployment time, CMP generates from DD
Persistent field can not be private, only declared in DD


Have you taken 486 UML as well?? I am finished with all 4 tests now!
Good Luck!

[trivikram Kumar]

Hi Patrik:

Hearty Congratulations !

Yeah, as I read from several posts, I could understand that the real exam was tougher than the sample test.

Good that you cleared it..pass is pass..So now you are an ICED..wonderful !!

I am planning to take it this week.

Thanks a lot for your explanations to all my questions.

I would try and then let me see�:-)

I did not take 486..I may take it if I can clear this exam�

Do not know how tough it is�..

So what next ?

Enjoy for this year..youc an start fresh next year again :-))

Thanks a lot Patrik..you could clear most of my questions..will post you after the exam.

Thanks,

[Mikalai Zaikin]

Congratz !

[Patrik Nilsson]

Good luck to you!

Yep I am an ICED now, i faxed my score report from Java Programmer to IBM yesterday, I think that's all I need to do so hopefully I will get my diploma soon.

No more certifications now for me for a looong time, even my girlfriend thinks that i should take a break =)
Maybe when there is a good book and an exam for EJB3 I will hit the books again.....

[trivikram Kumar]

Hi Patrik:

Took 484 yesterday and cleared with 73 %...

Oh God..the exam was not easy�.

I had to concentrate a lot to answer the questions.

There were several q�s on design patterns .

I could not see any q�s on Subject,Principals,Types of drivers etc.

I could see a lot of questions on lifecycles.

Thanks a lot for your help Patrik� it helped me to get a picture about the exam.

I am planning to take 486 �

Since you have cleared it, can you please help me in the materials and the difficulty, your score, your practices�.preparation time, your experience with it..etc..

I now want to give it a serious shot as I cleared this 484�

Will be witing for your reply Patrik.

Yeah..you are now done taking exams..just relax and tehn you can attck something later�enjoy and have a great time ahead !

Thanks,

[Patrik Nilsson]

Congrats, glad I could help a little! This was probably the toughest exam I've taken, was not very certain I'd passed before I clicked that button....

On to Test 486 then =)

It's not as hard as you might think, actually I've never had such a high score on an exam, somewhere around 85%.
I prepared with Craig Larmans book + Fowlers, If you are gonna have an examcram now I recommend you to skip Fowlers completely unless you don't know anything about UML notation.
Focus on the GRASP patterns and do the MagnetmockExam. There were no details on any designpattern except MVC and Delegater I think.
25% of the exam was about UP, who does what , what phases there are etc.
The Magnetmock had very similar questions so be sure to learn these!

Compared to 484 this is a piece of cake for you, good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

[trivikram Kumar]

Hi Patrik:

Thanks for your reply.

Thanks for your help.

One more question,in how many days can we prepare for this exam ?

Do we need to read all chapters of Larmen ?

Thanks a bunch for your replies,

[Patrik Nilsson]

I don't understand the question?

You don't have to read all chapters to pass, skip the designpatterns and learn GRASP patterns + UP and you will be fine
Do the Magnetmock exams(3 I think) and find your weaknesses.

[Patrik Nilsson]

I don't understand the question?

You don't have to read all chapters to pass, skip the designpatterns and learn GRASP patterns + UP and you will be fine
Do the Magnetmock exams(3 I think) and find your weaknesses.

[trivikram Kumar]

Hi Patrik:

I meant , how much preparation time we need ..is this short duration enough..was my question.

Thanks for the all the information Patrik.

[Patrik Nilsson]

It is absolutely possible if you have some experience!
RUP is big part of the exam, as is GRASP. Don't study too much detailed on designpatterns, I think you can skip them completely if you have some exeperience.
Do the magnet mock exams, they are very similar to the real thing.

[trivikram Kumar]

Hi Patrik:

Thanks for your reply.

I will do the same and try towards clering the exam.

Thanks a bunch for all the information Patrik.

Thanks,

[Mikalai Zaikin]

Originally posted by Patrik Nilsson:

Do the magnet mock exams, they are very similar to the real thing.

Thanks for the favourable comment