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Preparing for SCJD

 
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I'm sure this question has been asked a million times, so I would like to apologize in advance. I did search the forums but didn't really find definitive answers.

I just passed my SCJP yesterday and have been looking forward to doing the SCJD assignment. Only problem is, my wife and I are having a baby in January, so it may be several months before I have any time to actually work on it.

I initially was looking for the equivalent SCJP book for the SCJD, but all I saw was one that combined the SCJP&D. Then I realized that I don't necessarily just want the concise guide to passing (right now) since I won't actually be able to do it for a while. I'd like to find some good design books that cover MVC and other fundamental concepts to designing/working on any project, that I can in turn apply to the SCJD assignment when it comes time.

Can anybody recommend some good design strategy/concept books that aren't SCJD specific?

Thanks!
 
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I like the Head First patterns book. You know there isn't a time limit on the SCJD. I've been working on it going on 2 years now. Someone on this forum took 6 years to complete it (probably the record). Good luck!
 
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Hi,

2 great books on patterns:

Object Oriented Design & Pattern - CAY HORSTMANN 2002
Pattern In Java 2nd Edition - Mark Grand 2002

However, I find patterns are not a lot of fun to read page by page (I had to read tooo many at university, maybe that's why..). I would rather suggest you pick the names you find on this board, on these 2 books's description. And then get information on them from the web..
MVC-Observer, Factory method, Business Delegate, Service Locator, Facade, Decorator, Adapter, Singleton, Command, Composite, Iterator, Interface, Delegator, Immutable, Snapshot(Memento)...

Also, a good book for this certification is:
SCJD Exam With J2SE 5 - Andrew Monkhouse and Terry Carmerlengo.

You'll also see Andrew floating around this board more than often.. or at least in the search results

Also, I really love this book:
Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and Iterative Development (3rd Edition) - Craig Larman

Good luck,
Alex
 
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Hello,

Thanks for tip's. I've just completed Chapter 11 on K&B which describes SCJD exam. I was amazed: the example assignment was quite easy! (I've been working with Java since 2001). To me SCJD exam seems much easier than SCJP (i was new to Java 5). You can't ever stop studying!

Just sharing my thoughts
[ December 14, 2007: Message edited by: Jari Timonen ]
 
Joshua Fix
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I have had no knowledge of design patterns until very recently. Since I passed the SCJP, I've been briefly introducing myself to different patterns. I have been striving on my own to design better code at work by forcing myself to create APIs as generically as I can, eliminate monolithic conditional blocks of code as much as possible, and make my classes as cohesive as possible. My biggest success was realizing that I designed and implemented a factory pattern before I ever knew what a factory pattern was.

My current issue is that I'm afraid that if I sign up for the assignment and THEN start reading about patterns and cool ways to write code, I'll get all excited, not sleep for like 5 days, and fully implement the first cool pattern/design I read about. Then I'll turn the page and want to redesign the whole thing.

Not sure though... I'll probably make it through the first chapter of one of the books before I break down and get the assignment
 
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Originally posted by Jari Timonen:
To me SCJD exam seems much easier than SCJP (i was new to Java 5). You can't ever stop studying!

Just sharing my thoughts

[ December 14, 2007: Message edited by: Jari Timonen ]



I don't agree with you. SCJP is just for reading books while SCJD is a practical implementation. It is only easy for the people who really worked for couple of years on distributed technology using RMI.
 
Alex Belisle Turcot
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Originally posted by Jignesh Patel:


I don't agree with you. SCJP is just for reading books while SCJD is a practical implementation. It is only easy for the people who really worked for couple of years on distributed technology using RMI.




I'm glad someone replied!

I think SCJD is the type of certification when you read about it, you think you knew all that. When you actually need to make the definitive choice, document it, compare it, implement it... it takes longer...

For me, about 95% of the assignment was spent reading.. coding was not the hard part, it was rather deciding what was the best choice..

Regards,
Alex
 
Jari Timonen
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It's definitely hard if one hasn't any knowledge of Software Engineering process. If you have pre-knowledge, it's hard since you're doing same stuff in work and your free time.

I suggest everybody to study about basics how SW project is done and after that read "the ultimate pattern book". And try to keep software simple as possible.

I'm here in peace.
 
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Probably a stupid question aswered billion of times. I completed SCJP 6 today at morning. Now i'm looking for SCJD. How to register and get a voucher?
 
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Originally posted by Joshua Fix:
My biggest success was realizing that I designed and implemented a factory pattern before I ever knew what a factory pattern was.



Which is not really strange. A lot of the well-known patterns weren't inventions in their own right, but a documentation of what patterns were observed in actual code of many projects. In other words, 1000's of people invented code that behaved like the factory pattern, but a single person noticed it was a reoccurring pattern, gave it its name and documented this
 
Alex Belisle Turcot
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Originally posted by Victor Williams Stafusa da Silva:
Probably a stupid question aswered billion of times. I completed SCJP 6 today at morning. Now i'm looking for SCJD. How to register and get a voucher?



Hi Victor,

it's good practice to start a new thread for new question, otherwise we miss your question

Javaranch - FAQ

On SUN's website, the SCJD contains 2 part:
  • Step 1 - Sun Certified Developer for Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition - Programming Assignment (CX-310-252A)
  • Step 2 - Sun Certified Developer for Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition - Essay Exam (CX-310-027)


  • Get the part 1, SUN/Prometric will send you an email with a link to download the assignment. It takes about 2 days for them to package your assignment (your certification manager site with SUN: certmanager)

    Then the fun starts. The part2 is an no brainer essay exam where you answer few questions on your design, don't even think about this one until you are done with the first part, or at least not for a while..

    good luck
    Alex
     
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