OO Exam on Java!

[Arulkumar Gopalan]

Dear All,

I finally took the exam today. I think I might be the last one taken this exam since I took afternoon HST.

This is my first certification exam and felt good by sitting in a place for 3 hours and thinking about Java. Anyway, here is my exam experience. I felt it is,
- to test what technologies are available on Java and the purpose of each
- testing very little and basic java coding knowledge
- and lotz of OO questions especially on UML and little of inheritance/polymorphism/encapsulation every now and then
- little bit of EJB key words. as simple as, what is the purpose of ejb and diff type of beans.
- how a web tier can look like�..thats all:-)

From my experience of taking this exam, It is an OO exam with a little bit of Java coding knowledge. I am not sure how would it help in the job market as SCJA.

Thanks guys for your postings!

rgds
arul

[Nicholas Cheung]

Good luck to the exam.

Nick

[sai kumar]

hi arulkumar

I am not sure how would it help in the job market as SCJA.

I think object oriented concepts are really important for a good design. It is the foundation / basic concepts one should know. SCJP is deep into core java, it does not really test the object oriented concepts.

This exam tests both the foundation and the basic knowledge of java.

Lets see how it affects the job market in Japan (as this is the place where it was originally targeted for).

[Michael Hoo]

Hi, My name is Michael and is new to this forum.

I think that I was also one of the late beta tester as my scheduled start time was 6pm on 15.7.2005 !

Anyway, thanks for all those comrade who gave us hints in preparaing for the exam, especially thank those who organized and prepared this beta exam. No matter what the result will be, we should give them a credit anyway.

[Rick O'Shay]

I am not sure how would it help in the job market as SCJA.

Allow me to remove that uncertainty: it will be of no help whatsoever in terms of landing an enterprise software architect position and it is utterly useless in obtaining a position as a SCJA.

A SCJA position requires, surprise, Sun certification. Where not required the SCEA will still be rather helpful. What you completed was the "do you have the foggiest idea what you are doing" exam. The "test" is the project followed by another test that asks "you sure you did this yourself?".

P.S. my exam was far more protocol/strategy oriented than object-oriented, that is it was more in line with my expectations for such a test.

[Arulkumar Gopalan]

Actually, Sun is trying to cover everything about Java in a single exam.

The objective is good, but the certification might not definitely useful. Because, It has just "what is what" on Java technologies? Any one can just know what is the purpose of J2ME. but, by knowing that, who can develop a Midlet or who can justfiy to a client that J2ME is useful for them?

In my opinion:
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For Freshers:
--------------
Sun should have questions with complete OO perspective with Java. So that employers can understand that candidate has good OO background with Java knowledge and he/she can easily be adopted.

For Mangers:
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Sun should have a separate exam which should cover
- understanding of OO & Java technologies
- Analysis questions on what architecture should be used for what
- provide solutions to a given scenario.
- should be useful to consultants to propose better architecture for clients
- how does Java applications benefit to clients in cost basis and to manage their organaization effectively
- but i am not sure that this can be achieved through an exam, as it is a combination of experience & knowledge of a person.


Just my few paises.

[Mahesh Kumaraguru]

Originally posted by Arulkumar Gopalan:
Actually, Sun is trying to cover everything about Java in a single exam.
The objective is good, but the certification might not definitely useful. Because, It has just "what is what" on Java technologies?

I think the certification might be useful to demonstrate an inclination towards knowing Java's capabilities and basic java programming skills. SCJA exam is a "what is what" of Java technologies.

Any one can just know what is the purpose of J2ME. but, by knowing that, who can develop a Midlet

Accepted. A candidate who wants to prove their capability in writing J2ME applications should target SCMAD ( Mobile Application Developer ).

who can justfiy to a client that J2ME is useful for them?

The Marketing guy convinces the client that a J2ME project component would be good for the business, without knowing a line of coding marketing managers sell N Tier J2EE applications.

For Freshers:
--------------
Sun should have questions with complete OO perspective with Java. So that employers can understand that candidate has good OO background with Java knowledge and he/she can easily be adopted.

There are seperate indepth OOPS certifications.
SCJP / SCJD is available to test indepth core Java.

For Mangers:
--------------
Sun should have a separate exam which should cover
- understanding of OO & Java technologies
- Analysis questions on what architecture should be used for what
- provide solutions to a given scenario.
- should be useful to consultants to propose better architecture for clients
- how does Java applications benefit to clients in cost basis and to manage their organaization effectively

This is covered in Sun Certified Enterprise Architect.

- but i am not sure that this can be achieved through an exam, as it is a combination of experience & knowledge of a person.

Just my few paises.

Achieving all these thru a single exam would be difficult, so candidates who want to prove their all round Java expertise should appear for all Sun Java certifications - Associate, Programmer + Java Developer + WebComponent Developer + BusinessComponent Developer + Developer for WebServices + Mobile Application Developer + Enterprise Architect and then they can be respectfully called Sun Certified NTier Architect
[ July 31, 2005: Message edited by: Mahesh Kumaraguru ]

[Mahesh Kumaraguru]

A Sun Certified NTier Architect Project manager would prefer to hire Sun Certified Java associates as "Junior Architects" to work with in the team along with other Java certification holders for their respective roles.