I think Sun should kill this exam...

[Dean Fredericks]

I think Sun should kill this exam...

[Ulf Dittmer]

I seem to remember reading that it was geared specifically towards the Japanese market; don't know why.

[marc weber]

Originally posted by Dean Fredericks:
I think Sun should kill this exam...

Why?

[Theodore Casser]

I don't see any real reason to kill it - it's got its place as an intro exam, which is why I think they introduced it originally. Consider it a SCJP-lite - most programmers will skip over it for the "full" SCJP, while newbies and occasional-programmers might take SCJA to have some credentials...

[Henry Wong]

There are cases where someone may need to be able to read a java program, but rarely need to write anything large. Quality Assurance, Help Desk, System Adminstration, and other roles that need to touch Java code, but not develop anything major.

Henry

[Arno Reper]

And for students ( like me ) who haven't use J2EE or J2ME yet...when I search a job ( or a stage or ... ) and I can tell I already have SCJP and I have basic knowledge about EE & ME with SCJA certification : they always are very surprised...its a good idea this certification only the price is maybe a bit toooo expensive ( 210� + vat(21%) ) for an entry cert. , Im working for it every moonday to get the money...still 40� too short...anybody? lol joking...
ps: im still studying for SCJA
[ July 07, 2006: Message edited by: Arno Reper ]

[Arno Reper]

eeh marc you are the new moderator here...nice layne was nice too but he wasn't a lot here...

[marc weber]

Originally posted by Arno Reper:
eeh marc you are the new moderator here...

I just want to keep things nice and orderly here.

I wish there was more reference material specific to the SCJA exam. Until then, helping each other out in this forum is probably the best approach. So don't be shy to post...

[Jim Yingst]

[Ulf]: I seem to remember reading that it was geared specifically towards the Japanese market; don't know why.

Yes, that was the primary target as I understand it. There was a significant group of students in technical study programs who exit the program with some knowledge of Java, but little or no practical experience. Businesses there are apparently very credential-oriented and wanted some way of verifying which of their prospective new hires had some knowledge of Java, and which did not. Sun responded to this need with SCJA. There may be other countries / cultures where SCJA is used a lot; I don't know. I would say that if you're a beginning Java developer and you live somewhere that employers seem to care about SCJA, then get an SCJA. If not, don't.

[Dean]: I think Sun should kill this exam...

Why should the rest of us care whether Sun offers the SCJA program or not? It's apparently useful to some people, and everyone else can simply ignore it.

[marc weber]

My manager doesn't know a boolean from a Servlet. This makes things a bit challenging from a "capacity planning" standpoint.

[Amit Batra]

I think sun should introduce a data structure exam. Id like to learn data structures in java but without a cert have little motivation.

[Peter Rooke]

Yes, I think this exam is good for managers, who possibily programmed in COBOL (and SSADM) years back. Good for IT support staff as well.

[Bert Bates]

A lot of good ideas here, but I think Henry is closest. This is a great exam for people who have jobs that are associated with Java, but might not be really big-time developers. I'd add tech writers to Henry's list.

[Giovanni De Stefano]

[Marc]: My manager doesn't know a boolean from a Servlet. [...]

LOL...you made my day! Apparently my Manager is not the only one who has no clue...at all!

I still believe SCJA is good for students or occasional programmers who are interested in Java but still don't know which direction to take...web-app or J2ME are pretty different fields...for an entry level is a good chance to prove "Hey dude, I am an entry level, but I am willing to learn new stuff, I can prove you I know what you are talking about...thanks to my cert!"

P.S. BTW...hopefully we live in a "free world"...if you don't like the cert nobody forces you to take it!

Gio :-)
[ July 19, 2006: Message edited by: Giovanni De Stefano ]