FREE BETA - JAVA PROGRAMMER CERTIFICATION EXAM

[Evelyn Cartagena-Meyer]

The Sun Certification Program Manager is now beginning recruitment for ** Quality Review Beta Testers** of the new Programmer Certification exam: Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform 1.4 exam
The beta will be offered from APRIL 25 - MAY 17.
If you are interested in taking this free beta please send an e-mail to:
[e-mail]
with your full name, e-mail address, City/Country and your Prometric Id number.
Evelyn Thompson

[andy lau]

what's Prometric Id number??

[Brian Glodde]

Thanks Evelyn!
A Prometric ID is what you receive when you register to take your exams.

[William Brogden]

And the most important question is: "have the objectives changed?" If so where are they posted.
Bill

[Tosin Adedoyin]

Does that mean you cannot take Beta test if you have not registered for the real exam ??

[Meera K]

Originally posted by Brian Glodde:
Thanks Evelyn!
A Prometric ID is what you receive when you register to take your exams.

If you take the beta test will you be scored on that ? What about people who dont have ID cant they give this exam.
[ April 12, 2002: Message edited by: Simran ]

[Dave Vick]

Simran
Welcome to the Java Ranch, we hope you’ll enjoy visiting as a regular however,
your name is not in keeping with our naming policy here at the ranch. Please change your display name to an appropriate name as shown in the policy.
Thanks again and we hope to see you around the ranch!!

[huanyu zhao]

i also want to konw the answer!
tell me!?And the most important question is: "have the objectives changed?"
if i pass it should i pass scjo again??
now i am preparing for scjp!
which one should i take!/.

to William Brogden:

really rhank you for your wondeful java2 exam cram.i am in china so i couldn`t get your book!
i have been told so many times your book is great!so i spent half of living money/per month to buy it form amazon.com with the help of my friend in us. i really appreciate you! thank you!!!

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

Originally posted by William Brogden:
And the most important question is: "have the objectives changed?" If so where are they posted.
Bill

The objectives have not changed -- yet. However, the Beta is on 1.4 including Assertions.

[Clive Rodrigues]

When is the full version of Java 1.4 Programmer Certification going to be available?
I'd wait for that instead of getting certified now.

[Chris Mathews]

The time you spend studying and getting certified now will be just as valuable as if you wait for the new version of the exam. Not so much has changed in 1.4 to render the previous certification useless.

[Evelyn Cartagena-Meyer]

All,
You CAN take the beta without registering for the "real" exam, which will not be available until summer.
If you PASS the beta exam you will receive a certificate.
When you receive your e-mail confirmation for taking the beta, it will have the phone number you need to call to sign up for the beta. If you have taken one of our certification exams you already have an existing Prometic ID number, if not when you sign up for the beta you will be given one.
The objectives are as follows:
- Language Fundamentals
- Flow Control, Assertions, and Exception Handling
- Threads
- Fundamental Classes in the java.lang package
- The Collections Framework
- Overloading, Overriding, Runtime Type and Object Orientation
- Operators and Assignments
- Garbage Collection
- Declarations and Access Control
Hope this helps!

[geetha nagarajan]

I am interested in taking the beta exam.Wanted some more info.about it.
1.)How many questions?
2.)What are assertions?
3.)Is the information available in the sun website?

[Carl Trusiak]

Assertions

[Chris Mathews]

I just got my confirmation for the Beta Exam and it is 161 questions and 4 hours long. Guess who is taking off work that day? I can't imagine doing anything except for vegging after four hours of thinking like a compiler.
It looks as if the only addition from 1.4 to the objectives is that of Assertions. No mention of nio or the logging API or any of the other additions to 1.4.
I also see no mention of java.awt or java.io packages in the attached objectives pdf? Evelyn, have these objectives been dropped from the Programmer exam or did the pdf cut off permaturely? Collections now have their own section in the objectives so it seems as if this will be focused on more.
Obviously we are all wondering how much this exam has changed. Personally I would welcome the loss of AWT from the exam. I always hated GridBagLayout.

[Evelyn Cartagena-Meyer]

You are correct, the major topic added with 1.4 is assertions and we also gave more focus to wrapper classes.
We made slight updates to all the objectives, and deleted objectives related to java.awt or java.io packages. Collections ha been moved to its own section, but that doesn't necesarily mean that there are more questions on this topic.
All of the test questions have been re-written, so this a new exam.
The four (4) hours is an estimate of the maximum time it should take to complete the beta. On average I expect the exam to be closer to three (3) hours.
Evelyn

[Toby Davis]

By new exam, do you mean that the certification on this test will be considered quite different from the current exam's cert?
Or will both the current and new exams result in the same SCJP2 certification status?

(Asking this on a business level... I'm aware of the differences between 1.2/1.3 and 1.4 API's aren't as big as the 1.1 to 1.2, at least in my opinion).
Thanks in advance.

[Rob Ross]

If we take this beta test, and pass it, do we get credit for SCJP? Or do we still have to take the "regular" SCJP with the 59 questions to count as having taken the SCJP?

[ersin eser]

http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/java/beta.html

[Mark Fletcher]

Hi,
If Im an SCJP and I apply for the SCJP1.4 beta exam and pass, will my certification now be SCJP1.4 (beta) or SCJP 1.4?
Cheers,
Mark

[Steven Wong]

Hi,
Will the SCJP1.4 eventually take over SCJP1.2?
I've already scheduled my SCJP1.2 exam end May.

Clement

[Rob Ross]

Originally posted by ersin eser:
http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/java/beta.html

That's a nice URL, but it doesn't answer my question.
:roll:

[Mark Fletcher]

Hi,
Is the Beta program only available in the US? I could see no mention of it on Suns UK pages.
Ta,
Mark

[Carl Trusiak]

Originally posted by Evelyn Thompson:
All,
You CAN take the beta without registering for the "real" exam, which will not be available until summer.
If you PASS the beta exam you will receive a certificate.

Robb, I think this answers your question, read above!
[ April 16, 2002: Message edited by: Carl Trusiak ]

[Carl Trusiak]

Mark,
If you fully read http://www.javaranch.com/sunbeta.jsp it states
"When"
The beta will be offered at Prometric testing centers World Wide beginning April 25 to May 17

[Mark Fletcher]

Thanks Carl!
*Sigh* Maybe I need a new pair of glasses...

[Mark Spritzler]

Wow, I am really looking forward to doing the beta, I got my e-mail earlier today.

And the most important question is: "have the objectives changed?" If so where are they posted.
Bill

So that you can figure what you need to rewrite for your book? LOL
Mark

[Allan Moster]

As per the attachment of the confirmation email I got earlier, I will receive the following if I pass the exam:
1) An official certificate
2) A score report detailing the results of your exam
3) A letter of congratulations
4) A lapel pin with the certification name engraved on it.
Does this mean my SCJP2 will be retired soon?

[Himanshu Jhamb]

A Quick Paranoid Question !
I just passed the SCJP2 exam last week. If I take this new beta exam and god forbid ! I do not pass, am I still a SCJP ???
In other words, the new score/certification wouldn't override my old one, right ?
thanks
- Himanshu

[Rob Ross]

I'm on the list too. Whoopee! Looks like this test got a little easier with respect to what I've already been studying. Glad to see the awt get retired. I use Swing exclusively on a day-to-day basis.
I am going to take this test, and I'm sure I'll pass it and do well, but with 116 questions, 3 hours, AND it's a Beta, so there will probably be some ambiguous questions, I think it's unlikely I'll make my goal of 100%.
However, the upside is that this forces me to finally actually "get in gear", set a date, study, and do it. Then I can move on to the SCJD and other things.
I'm actually quite excited!

[Rob Ross]

Originally posted by Marilyn deQueiroz:
You can not become SCJP2 certified by taking the Beta exam.

I just re-read this...is this still accurate? Does anyone know??? According the Marilyn, I'd still have to take the SCJP for java 2 to get certified for SCJP.
[edited]
Ok, I re-read some more and answered my own question.
YES, if you pass this 1.4 Beta, it "counts" as your SCJP.
Thank you Rob.
You're welcome Rob.

[Manish Hatwalne]

Originally posted by Himanshu Jhamb:
A Quick Paranoid Question !
In other words, the new score/certification wouldn't override my old one, right ?
thanks
- Himanshu

I am also interested in knowing this.
I think, two certifications should be treated differently, independent of each other. Can someone clarify?
Also, can I take this exam in any local prometric? Or is there a separate list of prometrics for this exam?
TIA,
- Manish

[Himanshu Jhamb]

Hi.
I tried registering for this exam & I did so 3-4 days ago... but have not received any confirmation email as yet.
How long does it take before they send a confirmation email... 'cause I shd probably go and try to register again if its a matter of hours before the confirmation comes back
Pls. advise.
thanks
- Himanshu

[Allan Moster]

Originally posted by Himanshu Jhamb:
Hi.
I tried registering for this exam & I did so 3-4 days ago... but have not received any confirmation email as yet.
How long does it take before they send a confirmation email... 'cause I shd probably go and try to register again if its a matter of hours before the confirmation comes back
- Himanshu

In my case, I received the email confirmation two hours after I submitted my request. I guess you should register again.

[Cindy Xu]

Beta exam can be taken in local testing center. And you can find a testing center list in http://www.2test.com.

[Hope May]

I called Sun training(800-422-8020) today. They told me that the registration for this free beta test is closed since last Friday (4/12).
Has anyone signed up for the test and got a confirmation after last Friday?

[Allan Moster]

Originally posted by Hope May:
I called Sun training(800-422-8020) today. They told me that the registration for this free beta test is closed since last Friday (4/12).
Has anyone signed up for the test and got a confirmation after last Friday?

Yup, I got mine 4/16/2002.

[Paul Michael]

Originally posted by Evelyn Thompson:
The Sun Certification Program Manager is now beginning recruitment for ** Quality Review Beta Testers** of the new Programmer Certification exam: Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform 1.4 exam
The beta will be offered from APRIL 25 - MAY 17.
Evelyn Thompson

Hi Evelyn. I just finished filling up the form at the Sun site. I hope it's not too late.

[vinita Kh]

Hi everybody,
Even I have signed up at sun's site 4 days back, but didn't get confirmation till now. Is it already too late?
Plz suggest what should I do.
Regards,
Vinita

[Manish Hatwalne]

I can't find details of 311-035 exam anywhere on www.2test.com site. I don't want to take exam in the same prometric again
Besides, am I supposed to book my exam 24 onwards or can I do it before that?
TIA,
- Manish