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queries about the SCJA exam

 
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hi people i am having a few quieries about the SCJA exam
1] is this exam being officially offered by SUN
2] is this exam simpler than the SCJP exam
3] what are the areas that it includes
4] when should a person plan to giv e this exam , before the SCJP or after the SCJP
5] are there any books available for this exam , if not are there any in the pipeline
 
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Moving to SCJA Forum...
 
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Your questions have been discussed many times, you can do a simple search in this forum.

1] is this exam being officially offered by SUN


Yes, but it is in beta status.

2] is this exam simpler than the SCJP exam


No. They are totally focus on different aspects.

3] what are the areas that it includes


Please check the objectives at:
http://www.sun.com/training/certification/java/associate_beta_objectives.xml

4] when should a person plan to giv e this exam , before the SCJP or after the SCJP


Bert, who is one of the exam creators, recommends that this test is only for Java beginners. But of course, you can take the exam on your own.


5] are there any books available for this exam , if not are there any in the pipeline


No.

Nick
 
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Originally posted by bhavesh bhanushali:

2] is this exam simpler than the SCJP exam

As was said in the previous response, it is very different. However, it really is safe to say that it's much simpler than the SCJP.

4] when should a person plan to giv e this exam , before the SCJP or after the SCJP

Honestly, if you plan to take the SCJP, I would recommend JUST taking that exam. Certainly anyone who has already passed the SCJP shouldn't waste their time/money/etc. on this exam.



-Dave Wood
(one of the authors of the exam)
 
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Hi Dave,

I do not completely agree to your response "However, it really is safe to say that it's much simpler than the SCJP." for query from Bhavesh "Is this exam simpler than the SCJP exam ?".

I see this exam as more complex because all parts of Java end-to-end is included, so the breadth of subject matter knowledge is more though there is not much depth in each topic. SCJP in my opinion is simpler because there is only Core Java / J2SE and the objectives are clearer and more precise / granular. Some of the SCJA objectives overlap with SCEA ( Enterprise architect ). Refer my detailed opinion on this at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sun_Certified_Java_Associate/message/8. If you see from the view point of a Java beginner ( approx 6 months into Java ), there are a lot of topics which touch the basics of advanced Java topics like "Section 6.1)...given a high-level architectural goal, select the appropriate Java platform or platforms.", so this topic comes to SCEA. Just my opinion
 
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[Andrew: Contents of post deleted, as we don't allow complaints about beta exam being closed.]
[ June 16, 2005: Message edited by: Andrew Monkhouse ]
 
Dave Wood
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Originally posted by Mahesh Kumaraguru:
Hi Dave,

I do not completely agree to your response "However, it really is safe to say that it's much simpler than the SCJP." for query from Bhavesh "Is this exam simpler than the SCJP exam ?".

I see this exam as more complex because all parts of Java end-to-end is included, so the breadth of subject matter knowledge is more though there is not much depth in each topic. SCJP in my opinion is simpler because there is only Core Java / J2SE and the objectives are clearer and more precise / granular. Some of the SCJA objectives overlap with SCEA ( Enterprise architect ). Refer my detailed opinion on this at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sun_Certified_Java_Associate/message/8. If you see from the view point of a Java beginner ( approx 6 months into Java ), there are a lot of topics which touch the basics of advanced Java topics like "Section 6.1)...given a high-level architectural goal, select the appropriate Java platform or platforms.", so this topic comes to SCEA. Just my opinion



That's a fair point. Simple is probably not the best word. The big thing to understand about the SCJA exam is that has almost no depth. You don't have have deep knowledge of the language (not anywhere near what you need for the Tiger SCJP exam) and you don't have to have more than the most basic knowledge of the "advanced" Java topics (i.e. the J2EE/J2ME/etc. stuff the later objectives touch on). But you're right, it does cover a wider range of topics than the SCJP exam, so in that sense it is less "simple."
 
Nicholas Cheung
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I would say, the difficulty of this exam is NOT the content, but a board knowledge in Java.

SCJP (J2SE programming concepts), SCJD (J2SE programming skills), SCWCD (Servlets & JSP), SCBCD (EJB), SCDJWS (Web Services), SCMAD (J2ME) and SCEA (application design & UML with J2EE) focus on its own area, with less overlapping.

However, SCJA requires you to know ALL aspects from the above exams. Hence, it might not be that easy to learn all aspects in a short time. However, it is good that the content is not that in depth. Hence, I would say, in programming level, it is much more easier than SCJP, but in Java knowledge, it is much more harder than all other exams.

Nick
 
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This exam is useful in many ways.

Primarily for the intended audience it was
originally conceived for. Additionally it
looks like a useful means for measuring one's
familiarity with the concepts in order to plan
and estimate time for studying for more advanced
certifications like ICED, which covers a lot of
the same material, but with much more depth.
Finally, for those that managed to register, it's
a convenient way of keeping focussed if you've
have passed the more advanced certifications.

Cheers,

Gian
[ June 17, 2005: Message edited by: Gian Franco Casula ]
 
Mahesh Kumaraguru
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Complexity of SCJA :-

Example question on section 6.1) Given high-level architectural
goal, select appropriate Java platform(s) from URL:-

http://certification.about.com/library/quiz/java/blscea_q7.htm

Question : Toysrfuss, a national toy store is creating a new e-front
for Order processing. Customers have to create an account to
transact with them, although an account is not required for browsing
the catalog. Customers can browse items and add them to a shopping
cart. They can then proceed to checkout. At this time, they can
update quantities and submit the order. What technologies may be
best suited for this application?
a. JSP for presentation and Servlets as controllers.
b. Servlets for presentation and JSP as controller.
c. Stateless Session Bean for Shopping cart.
d. Stateless session bean for catalog retrieval.
e. Stateful Session bean for shopping cart.
f. Stateful session bean for Order update.
g. Entity bean for Catalog retrieval.
h. Entity bean for Order update.

Choose 1 from :-

a) D, E, & G
b) A, B, E & H
c) A, D, E & H
d) B, E, F & G

Answer : c) A, D, E & H.

Interesting question. This is an Enterprise architect question and this topic is common between SCJA and SCEA.

The point to be noted is that there is NO = need to code, test and deploy a jsp / servlet / ejb etc. not even 1 lineof code. Its all concepts and requires good idea of N-tier architecture using J2EE.
 
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