J2EE Specs From Head First EJB

[Arthur Orange]

Note: Sorry I posted this in the wrong section of the forums (under EJBs) so here is the right place:

I notice that Ms. Sierra's Head First EJB book makes reference to specs like "Spec 324" all over the answers to the mock exams.

Now I downloaded both the J2EE 1.4 and 1.3 Specs

http://java.sun.com/j2ee/j2ee-1_4-fr-spec.pdf (1.4 spec)

and

http://java.sun.com/j2ee/1.3/download.html#platformspec (1.3 spec)

but where is a page 324 as referred to by "Spec 324" or "Spec 317"? (because the specs end way earlier than that) (look at pages 467-468 of HFEJB) I figured that maybe Ms. Sierra and Mr. Bates were talking about a spec # instead of a page number (contrary to what is mentioned in the beginning of the book neither is theremention of a spec 324. Can someone refer me to the right url please? or help me interpret what the authors mean when they say "spec 325-326")

p.s. by the way Ms. Sierra looks really pretty in that picture and Mr. Bates I believe is responsible for the entertainment industry and theatre/acting jargon dispersed throughout the book. In conclusion a job well done on the book, I have some constructive comments but that is for another post and only if solicited.

[Joe Cuppa]

Although I may not be able to help you with your missing spec problem, I am interested in your constructive comments on the book.

[Bert Bates]

Hello -

We are in fact referring to spec *pages*, but I think you're looking at the wrong spec

Try this one:

http://java.sun.com/products/ejb/docs.html#specs

HTH

Bert

[Arthur Orange]

Wow thanks Mr. Bates! I am honored

Firstly, I read the whole book in 9 days after solving all the sharpens and all the exercizes (I am getting a pathetic 50-60% on the cram exams at the end of the book so I don't feel very confident about giving the final mock exam or even the real exam) To top it off I was unable to look up the specs because I was looking at the wrong specs. I searched high and low on the site but could not find them and kept running into the the other specs (URL mentioned earlier).

I plan to now read the notes collected by others on this website (Valentine C.'s for e.g.) and then move onto the sample exams on the web and last of all I intend to give the final exam in Appendix A. Any suggestions and pointers would be helpful. I am aiming for this wednesday as my exam date.

Two things if I may.

Firstly I noticed quite a bit of chemistry in the bios of you and Mrs. Sierra in the book however I didn't know that you guys were married until I came to the website and read Mr. Bates' bio. That piece of information explains many things I bet a lot of eager nerds and geeks hit on Mrs. Sierra only to be let down after this revelation.

Secondly, about your book! its excellent and the synergy is evident. Its an excellent book however it could do with two things better referencing/indexing/organization for easy reference and more humor and more "pitchures". I felt at points like you wanted to elaborate more on a topic but couldn't because it would have been tangential or drawn out or too detailed (which leads me to the conclusion that a few more appendices would have been great to house all the specific information like the appendix on bit manipulation and octal->binary->hex conversions in Mr. Khalid Mughal's book on SCJP).

I shall be more specific about all my suggestions above in upcoming posts (I had been taking notes during my reading. I also hope a second edition or another printing comes out to cover the errata and the helpful hints mentioned regarding compilation of the advice EJB app (it was time consuming to do them on Windows). However the pointer to javaranch in the book and your generosity is really mind blowing in a tech community that tends to foster a secretive environment.

Programmers at time behave like ancient Italian families trying to prevent family trade secrets from being divulged and to top it off they dish out a great amount of arrogance and insecurity to their compatriots (An exception is the ethnic programmers in Indian circles who behave most cooperatively towards their own "kind" or caste; and to a large extent even the Chinese programmers) However I am amazed to see a refereshingly amazing environment on these boards and I believe if nothing most of the credit goes to you and Mrs. Sierra.

Originally posted by Bert Bates:
Hello -

We are in fact referring to spec *pages*, but I think you're looking at the wrong spec

Try this one:

http://java.sun.com/products/ejb/docs.html#specs

HTH

Bert

[Bert Bates]

Authur -

Thanks for the great feedback! We look forward to your ideas.

As far as the exam goes, I'll make a few suggestions assuming two things:

1 - you're bound and determined to take the exam on Wednesday - no postponing
2 - you just want to pass - you don't care about getting a really high score

Here goes:

- First - Focus on just a few areas during these last days - areas where you feel you can gain a lot of ground. Don't try to re-cover every topic, you'll probably get confused.

- Second - Our mocks are typically 5-10% harder than the real exam because we don't tell you how many answers to pick. Other than that, they should be very similar to the real McCoy.

- Third - Before the exam get a lot of rest, and be well hydrated (but don't wait until the last minute to hydrate ).

- Fourth - Do the easy ones first, and mark the hard ones for your second pass.

Big Caution!!! At some of the test centers you CAN'T review a completed drag and drop question without losing your existing answer! Watch out!

- Finally, relax and don't forget to breathe!

Let us know how you do!

- Bert

[Arthur Orange]

Originally posted by Bert Bates:
Authur -

2 - you just want to pass - you don't care about getting a really high score

- Bert

Is there a particular advantage to really high scores besides bragging rights? Does something special happen if you have a score of 98% as opposed to 68%? I guess one could mention the score in one's resume or during the interviews when they ask one that question and one could feel a little more confident but is there more to it than that ?

Thanks once again Sir and you are welcome,

A

[Dave Wood]

Originally posted by Arthur Orange:

Does something special happen if you have a score of 98% as opposed to 68%?

I'm sure Bert will answer this, but just in case...no, nothing special happens (your certification does not show your percentage). However, you're right -- if you passed with a 98%, you might throw that on your resume. More importantly, you'll actually know more, which should be a big part of the goal anyway, right?