“Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.” - Rich Cook
MCP (C# application dev 70-316) 860<br />SCJP 1.4 100% SCJD (URLyBird) 378<br />MAD 100% nuts
Originally posted by Paul Goh:
My personal opinion is that scjp is child's play compared to scjd. Although I passed scjd, I still cringe when I think about what I have to go through to get it.
Anton Golovin (anton.golovin@gmail.com) SCJP, SCJD, SCBCD, SCWCD, OCEJWSD, SCEA/OCMJEA [JEE certs from Sun/Oracle]
SCJP 1.4<br />(WIP) SCJD B&S v2.3.3
Originally posted by Anton Golovin:
I second what Paul has said. SCJP is easy in comparison. I have recently submitted my SCJD, and I have spent 2.5 months coding it. It is not easy, and even though the application sounds relatively simple, it is not simple to implement. It takes persistence and guts to push the project through - but you learn a lot from it.
I worked nights, ate less than usual, forgot about basic things. Then, I was basically running on fumes as I forced to write the necessary documentation, jar it and submit it...
It was the most difficult thing, save for once building the model of U.S. economy in college, that I ever did. The personal responsibility entirely rests on the doer, there is no one to make the decisions and leave the coding to me... it's all my call, so... even though the project is not very difficult, the skills it calls on - programmer, developer, architect to some extent - certainly are taxing.
It's not the 20 hours advertised on the Sun site... more like 200 or 300, or even more.
[ October 07, 2004: Message edited by: Anton Golovin ]
[ October 07, 2004: Message edited by: Anton Golovin ]
Originally posted by peter wooster:
Actually as a seasoned developer, I think the SCJD could be done in 20 hours if you code quick, type fast, already know Swing, I/O and RMI and stay away from this forum. If you omit any of those, especially if you come here and start to worry about 44/80 and which pattern is best, you will spend much more time, but will learn much more as well, and probably get a better score in the end.
Anton Golovin (anton.golovin@gmail.com) SCJP, SCJD, SCBCD, SCWCD, OCEJWSD, SCEA/OCMJEA [JEE certs from Sun/Oracle]
SCJD, SCBCD, SCJP
Originally posted by peter wooster:
Actually as a seasoned developer,
Originally posted by Max Habibi:
Actually, as a member of Sun's certification team, the author of a book on the SCJD, and a moderately talented developer( if I do say so myself), I've yet to actually meet the developer who could do the assignment in 20 hours.
By and large, I'd say 3-6 months, assuming 8-10 hours per week, is a good clip. I'd advise anyone who's working on the project to think it through and enjoy the process, and to visit this forum often. There are a lot of really friendly, bright, and talented people here, and if you're into the heavy geek stuff, you'll find a second home here.
Software skills are not a quick meal: even if you have all the ingredients, you still need to let them simmer in sauce for a bit. Walk around and think about the problems: explore, reject, and verify options. This is the fun part of software.
The SCJD is unique in the certification world because it's project based: you're actually expressing yourself through your software. Could you breeze through and eek out a barely passing project? Probably. However, will that have enriched you as a developer? Becaues that's the goal here. Just something to think about.
Best regards,
M
The following APIs and facilities may not be used:
Enterprise JavaBeans
Servlets, JSP technology, or any other web-oriented APIs
NIO, the New IO facilities
Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC) and SQL
SCJD, SCBCD, SCJP
Originally posted by Max Habibi:
... I hope you're getting good usage out of the book, and out of javaranch. If you have any suggestions for the second edition, I'd love to hear them.
All best,
M
I hate to disagree with the man whose book has kept me sane throughout the SCJD processUnfortunately, NIO is not allowed on the exam.
“Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.” - Rich Cook
SCJD, SCBCD, SCJP