Sign up for the SCEA 1.4 Beta Exam opened...

[Chris Mathews]

Massimiliano Mercogliano broke the news here, however I figured that I would start a new topic to draw more attention...
If you are interested, you can sign up for the beta here.
Have fun.

[Steven Wong]

Thanks for the information, Chris.

[Rattan Mann]

dear Chris,
I have registered for the new 1.4 beta exam.Now my main question is whether Allen and Bambara's new book covers the 1.4 beta objectives. If so I will order it, otherwise not. In the latter case, could you suggest how to prepare for the test in this one month's time. I 'know' EJB 2.0, and my biggest worry is web services and JAX apis. Please say all you can so that others may also profit by your knowledge.
Rattan

[H Singh]

Are they going to provide the Upgrade Exam.

[Smythe Smythe]

Hi People,
I've looked at the links that you provided but still I cant find any info about the J2EE and EJB versions that are covered by the exam. Does anyone have a concrete info? Please help...
Cheers Smythe

[Gus Mus]

I think because it's a beta version then the objectives is not released yet.
But they will give the objectives to Beta test takers. If you registered yourself then you will receive it.

[Seid Myadiyev]

Do you think any of these will be included in the new exam?
--Web Services, WSDL, SOAP
--JAX-RPC
--EJB 2.1 (or 2.0)
--J2EE Connector
--Java Management Extensions (JMX)
Which of the previous objectives do you think will remain?
I am asking just for your opinion...
Thanks very much!

[Enrico Mannarino]

Hi guys,
the link does not work for me!
Anybody else with the same problem?
/Enrico

[Seid Myadiyev]

Hi Enrico,
That link has already been removed.
I guess Sun already gathered the required number of beta test takers.
Regards!
+Seid

[Enrico Mannarino]

Thank you for the info Seid!
What a pity for me though.
/Enrico

[Sri Addanki]

Can someone please post the right link, to the beta exam page.
Because when i click on the above url,
https://suned.sun.com/secure/architectbeta.html
it goes to this page:
http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/
thanks

[Chris Mathews]

Like Seid mentioned above, the beta test registration has obviously been closed. Sun must have already found their 400 beta testers.

[Darryl A. J. Staflund]

Hi there,
I just received a letter from Sun saying their Enterprise Architect Beta Certification has been cancelled until further notice. They promise to issue vouchers to those who registered once its re-opened but for now it's canceled.
Interesting...
Darryl

[Al Newman]

I apparently made it under the cut because I recieved an email saying that I would recieve an electronic voucher via email on April 28th. That was on April 11th, and I haven't recieved anything else from Sun since.
So it would seem that the SCEA beta program is still on.
What I wasn't sure of was whether they were sending out more than 400 vouchers and then allowing the first 400 to take the test and/or download the assignment to get the free offer. It would seem not however.

[Seid Myadiyev]

Hi Alfred,
What I understood from the sign-up page that Sun made available for some time is that the free voucher is valid for the first 400 test takers who actually take and pass all three parts of the exam. It seemed to me that they have given out more than 400 free vouchers but of them only first 400 successful submissions would be regarded as valid.
As of this moment I have not received any notice of cancellation either but I think we (you and I) are going to receive one soon. It seems that the cancellation emails that many people got by now are being sent out manually rather than automatically like the first response we all got. (Because this time there is a signature at the end of the email.) And that is what�s taking it a little longer.
But again, this is only my idea and I may be wrong.
Regards!
+Seid

[Chris Mathews]

I also got a cancellation notice, if you haven't received one yet then you should expect one soon. It is a shame they cancelled the beta, since this is obviously going to push back the release of the actual exam. It might have something to with the fact that the J2EE 1.4 Specification (which the next exam is based) has yet to be finalized. That is not expected to happen until August 2003. Of course, this is complete speculation on my part.

[Al Newman]

That woud be more than unwieldy. Suppose that one takes Part I (free), then dowload the assignment. Three weeks later you upload the assignment and schedules the essay exam only to find that Sun wants you to pay $400. For a beta?
It might make sense for them to provide a free voucher for the first 400 who sign up for Part I under the condition that PartII and III are finished by a certain date.

[Kathy Sierra]

Howdy all,
Chris is correct; the exam beta has been cancelled because the new exam has been postponed until sometime after the new specification is final. : (
There will be other certification news about Java coming out *very* soon, so stay tuned. I'll post something here.
cheers,
Kathy

[Seid Myadiyev]

I am very much looking foward J2ME Developer Certification Exam and I am very hopeful that it is this new exam that will be comming out soon! :-)

[Al Newman]

Katy, what is this about the 'new specification'? I thought the only relevant specs were Servelet 2.3, JSP 1.2, and EJB 2.1. I suppose the first two are a little old but why delay? The original SCEA is getting moldy already!
Any new certifications such as the J2ME one which was mentioned?

[Chris Mathews]

The new version of the SCEA is based on the J2EE 1.4 Specification, which includes Servlets 2.4, JSP 2.0, EJB 2.1, JMS 1.1, support for Web Services (via JAXP, JAX-RPC, and SAAJ), and a host of others. Currently the J2EE 1.4 Specification is in proposed final draft status, with a final draft expected in August. You can view the J2EE 1.4 PFD 3 here.
The new SCEA exam will be covering quite a bit of new ground since it is jumping from J2EE 1.2 to 1.4. This is definitely a good move on the part of Sun since it will not become immediately outdated.

[Al Newman]

Thanks Chris. I can see their POV. The problem is that people have been making plans based upon the previous timescale.....
Oh well, I'll do the Weblogic cert instead I suppose.
[ April 20, 2003: Message edited by: Alfred Neumann ]

[Rattan Mann]

Does the new book by Allen-Bambara cover the new topics mentioned by Chris. Has anybody seen this book!
Thanks.
Rattan

[Seid Myadiyev]

Hello Rattan,
This thread might have the answer you are looking for about the new Study Guide:
https://coderanch.com/t/151183/java-Architect-SCEA/certification/Has-any-body-read-osborne
Regards
+Seid

[Al Newman]

I doubt whether any guide published before 6 months after the new exam comes out is going to be completely up to date.
It's still worth buying the old guide unless you plan to wait for the new one to come out before beginning preparation. Then go to the new specification(s) and find the deltas.
Based upon Chris Matthew's latest post it would appear that the only major version change will be from JSP 1.2 to JSP 2.0. So I'd scan the online specs of Servlet 2.4, EJB 2.1, and JMS 1.1 for the deltas and maybe pick up an early book about JSP 2.0. Or simply scan the spec of course.

[Chris Mathews]

I would consider the jump from EJB 1.1 to EJB 2.1 to be a major change.
I would also consider the addition of Web Services to be significant.
However, we won't really know the extent of the changes until the objectives for the new exam are released...
[ April 21, 2003: Message edited by: Chris Mathews ]

[Al Newman]

Chris, I've been working with EJB 2.0 since it came out and assumed that most people have, so I didn't consider that the change is from 1.1 to 2.1. Frankly I know relatively little about EJB 1.1 other than Entity beans changed quite a lot and there were no MDBs.....
Web Services are a major change, though have you seen any signs that Web Services are taking off and becoming a major part of the typical architectural mix? I haven't. I interviewed last week for a project where they could have used either MDB's or Web Services for one part of the architecture. The choice was MDBs.....

[Chris Mathews]

I can't disagree with you, except to say that we are discussing the SCEA exam.
The previous version of the exam was based on J2EE 1.2, which included EJB 1.1. Therefore, the exam is indeed jumping from EJB 1.1 to EJB 2.1. I would tend to agree that most people that actually work with EJB are using 2.0 and the differences between 2.0 and 2.1 are relatively small.
Your preceptions of Web Services are pretty accurate. I have done some work with them but nothing major. I have certainly not seen anything to warrant the fuss that they have generated. However the new SCEA exam may place emphasis on Web Services... we won't know until the objectives are released.
Regardless, I do feel that the new version of the exam will be a major overhaul. J2EE best practices have come a long way since the first SCEA exam was authored and many more technologies have been added to the mix. Hopefully, the new exam will reflect this.
[ April 21, 2003: Message edited by: Chris Mathews ]

[Al Newman]

Chris, you were right and I wrong on the degree of change. My bad. It shows how moldy Sun allowed the SCEA exam to get that confusion like this is possible at all! How long has EJB 2.0 been out now, 18 months or more?!!!
I was quite excited about Web Services last year and spent a lot of time learning SOAP, etc. Now it appears that it's major significance will be in linking J2EE and .NET. Though that remains subject to change. MDB's appear superior for purely J2EE environments, and it's relatively easy to whip up any Web Services one needs to connect with .NET should that circumstance change.
But this is architecture, so feel free to move this post to an appropriate thread if you wish...